Mental hospital will be ‘white elephant’
WHILE assurances have been given that the construction of Kimberley’s controversial Mental Health Hospital will be completed by the end of this year, concern has been expressed about how the facility will be run, with some believing that it could become a white elephant.
The permanent delegates to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) visited the mental hospital in the city earlier this week.
According to a statement issued yesterday by Malatswa Molepo, from Parliament’s communication services, the members of the delegation accepted the assurance given by the Northern Cape provincial government’s Department of Public Works that the construction of the hospital would be concluded in the next two-and-a-half months.
“The NCOP and many parliamentary committees previously highlighted Parliament’s dissatisfaction at the pace with which the construction of the hospital was proceeding. The delegation is reassured that work is proceeding at a reasonable pace and that all indications are that the hospital will be finished by December 2017,” Molepo said.
He added that the delegation had, as a result of the reassurance, requested the Department of Health to urgently submit a report on the occupation strategy.
“The delegation is of the view that the hospital must be used as soon as the construction is completed.
“Despite this, the delegation hopes that the provincial government has learned valuable lessons which will come in handy going forward.”
Raseriti Tau, the deputy chairperson of the NCOP, added: “We do not expect such delays and the utilisation of inadequate companies in future infrastructure developments. Furthermore, proper planning must always be the basis of any development, which will ensure that the fiscus is protected against over expenditure and unnecessary delays.”
The DA has meanwhile expressed concern about a number of factors which, the party said, were threatening the operationalisation of the new mental hospital in Kimberley, “placing it at a very possible risk of becoming a white elephant”.
DA provincial chairperson and chief whip of the provincial caucus, Harold McGluwa, said yesterday that these factors included an “obvious” lack of funds coupled with internal management issues at the Northern Cape Health Department and within provincial government.
“The new mental hospital, of which construction has been dragging on for more than 11 years already, remains at the centre of controversy for having time and again missed its completion dates and for nonstop, escalating building costs,” McGluwa stated.
“A number of factors threatening the functioning of the facility, which is now due for completion early next year, were highlighted at a National Council of Provinces oversight visit to the facility.”
According to McGluwa, these include a total lack of funding for running costs for the facility, for which there is a shortfall of at least R240 million. “Until an allocation is made, either during the adjustment appropriation or even only in the 2018/19 budget, the facility will have to stand unutilised.”
He pointed out further that the provincial Department of Health was still under Section 18 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). “This in effect means that provincial Treasury is holding the purse strings of this department. This could hamper operational decisions with regards to getting the facility up and running as speedily as possible.”
“There is also still a moratorium on the filling of posts within the Health Department. Given the need for a big contingent of additional staff members to work within the new mental health hospital, this poses obvious challenges for the operationalisation of the facility.”
The DA called on Premier Sylvia Lucas to ensure that each of these issues were urgently addressed to prevent any further delays in getting mental health care working in the Province.
“This is even more important now, given a submission yesterday by the ANC NCOP member Charl De Beer that the Free State will also be utilising Kimberley’s new mental hospital facilities,” McGluwa said.
“It cannot be that a hospital that has taken more than a decade to be completed at a cost of over a billion rand, runs the risk of becoming nothing more than a monument to corruption, while thousands of mentally ill patients in the Northern Cape and central South Africa are queuing up to receive treatment.
“According to a study conducted by the London School of Economics and Political Science, 4.5 million South Africans suffer from depression. Many lives could be saved if access to treatment is extended.”
The spokesperson for the Department of Health, Lebogang Majaha, said that the department refuted the claims made by the DA that the Kimberley Mental Health Hospital would become a white elephant and that thousands of mentally ill patients in the Province would not receive treatment.
“Despite the existing mental health services provided at the current West End Hospital, earlier this year the department made strides by successfully migrating all mental health patients from state correctional centres to the West End specialised mental hospital, as well as increasing bed capacity at the current hospital. These mental health services will be relocated to the new hospital in which better patient flow will be provided,” said Majaha.
“The department has also commenced with the preparations to operationalise the new mental health hospital upon completion of the commissioning processes in 2018. The hospital commissioning team has made progress thus far in expediting the process.
“The hospital will be operationalised in phases, of which budget allocation and operational plan will be shared with stakeholders and the public at a later stage.
“With regards to the filling of clinical critical posts, this is a joint decision making process between the Department of Health and provincial Treasury, with a regular consultative process for approval following due human resource processes.
“We would also like to put on record that there has never been any consultative process with the Free State Department of Health with regards to the sharing of mental health services.”