Plans to curb violence at Pretoria mental hospital
“We have to work with healthcare workers and other stakeholders such as hospital boards, clinic committees and the patients themselves to curb incidents of attacks inside our facilities.”
The Gauteng health department is to jack up security at Weskoppies psychiatric hospital in Pretoria to ensure safety to staff and visitors.
The hospital treats patients with mental, emotional and behavioural disorders but is among the leading facilities in Gauteng on security breaches such as patients’ escapes, crime and violent behaviour by visiting relatives.
Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said the department would teach healthcare workers how to respond to attacks.
Nkomo-Ralehoko recently told the provincial legislature that between January 2022 and April 19 in 2023, 61 security incidents took place at the various department facilities.
She said the majority of them, 21, were registered at Weskoppies.
“The incidents include staff members being bitten, punched, hit in the face, robbed or assaulted. These led to patients either being sedated, restrained, transferred to other wards or facilities, secluded and in some instances cases being opened with the police.”
She said other facilities reported nine incidents at Carletonville hospital, nine at Far East Rand hospital, seven at Chris Hani Baragwanath academic hospital, four at Thelle Mogoerane hospital and three at Kopanong hospital.
Nkomo-Ralehoko said the department would implement the following measures to mitigate risk:
– Train staff on how to respond to aggression and violence.
– Improve the profiling of patients so staff are fully aware of possible risks.
– Offer psychological and emotional support and counselling to staff.
– Advice staff to always follow procedure when attending to patients.
– Encourage staff to report all incidents to occupation health and safety officers.
– Implement the existing department-SAPS memorandum of understanding.
– Educate patients and relatives about treatment procedures to ensure greater cooperation.
– Install CCTV cameras at strategic locations.
“Our goal is to minimise if not eradicate such incidents in our facilities.
“We have to work with healthcare workers and other stakeholders such as hospital boards, clinic committees and the patients themselves to curb incidents of attacks inside our facilities.
“The safety of our staff including patients remains a priority,” Nkomo-Ralehoko said.
According to DA Gauteng shadow health MEC Jack Bloom many nurses were punched in the face, and a security guard was hit in the groin at Weskoppies.
“Twenty-one assaults on staff… they were injured on various parts of their bodies.”
He said among the seven attacks at Chris Hani Baragwanath, two were on nurses while a speech therapist was bitten on the finger.
“Two smaller hospitals – Carletonville and Far East Rand (FAR) had nine attacks each – five of the staff at FAR were bitten by patients.”
He said angry relatives were a danger to hospital staff.
“It is distressing that so many hospital workers are attacked while trying to assist patients. Security needs to be beefed up, with specialised facilities for mentally ill patients at hospitals where this is lacking to minimise the risk of violence against staff.”
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