Department files court papers

to move patients into the care of nonprofit organisations at the end of last year.

This move has been halted by a court order issued in December.

Khanyile said the department had been paying more than triple the subsidies that frail-care centres providing 24-hour care received in other provinces.

As a result, he took the decision to form a public-private partnership with nonprofit organisations (NPOs) to provide further frail care in the province.

He said that after they advertised for NPOs to take over the frail-care patients, they were alerted to the fact that their proposed subsidy of R4 000 (per person) a month was too little and that they would not be able to do it for less than R6 000 and 90% of the old-age pension or disability grant.

He said at this stage there are 237 patients who must be moved as one was discharged and two had died.

Khanyile said according to their assessments, 38 patients at the two facilities should be transferred to facilities for disabled people as they were not frail, and 43 elderly patients could be accommodated at homes for the aged.

He said of the six NPOs who showed an interest in providing a frail-care service to the rest, none complied with the specifications.

He said the care of the patients will have to be divided between a number of NPOs as there was no single service provider who could take care of all of the patients.

Khanyile said they had also negotiated with the department of health to take over all medicalrelated services, as it was not in their mandate to fund these services. Khanyile said their survey of other provinces revealed that nobody was paying close to R18 000 per patient for 24-hour care.

Life Esidimeni centres in Limpopo received R3 500 per patient;

In Mpumalanga, frail-care facilities received R4 800 per patient;

In Gauteng, frail-care patients were subsidised at a cost of R4 000 per month;

In KwaZulu-Natal, patients are subsidised with R5 000;

In the Western Cape, the frail care subsidy is R4 065.

Judge Elna Revelas postponed the matter to May 25.