Psychiatric patients died of negligence, says judge

A judge has ordered a provincial government in South Africa to pay $15million (£10.6million) in damages to families of at least 144 psychiatric patients who he said had died of negligence after being moved to unregistered facilities in early 2016.

About 1,300 patients were moved from a unit of the Life Healthcare Group to charities in a cost-cutting move by Gauteng’s health department.

Dikgang Moseneke, the retired deputy chief justice who headed an inquiry into the deaths, said the provincial government’s actions were “unjustified and reckless”. He ordered compensation be paid to the families.