Note to Editors: Attached please find a soundbite by Dr Jack Bloom MPL in English here.
More than 100 NGOs caring for 2500 mental health patients are struggling as the Gauteng Health Department has failed to pay their subsidies for two months.
These payment delays occur regularly at the start of the financial year on 1 April as the Department uses the new budget to settle prior accrued debts.
The NGOs get only R4205 per patient per month, and R6298 for those over 60 years old. This falls far short of the real cost of providing dignified care for their complex needs. For similar care, the department pays around R18 000 per patient to commercial hospital groups.
I have alerted the Acting Head of Department, Dr Darion Barclay, to the alarming plight of NGOs with thin reserves trying to survive until their payments come through.
The department should be strengthening mental health NGOs, which have limited alternative income, rather than undermining them with late payments and burdensome red tape.
It is disappointing that the department has not learnt from the Life Esidimeni tragedy where crude cost-cutting led to the deaths of 144 mental health patients at disreputable NGOs.
The Democratic Alliance in Gauteng will push for prompt payments and a constructive partnership with NGOs that provide dedicated care to vulnerable people.