POLOKWANE – Limpopo Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba will launch a year long mental health care training workshop today, to be conducted virtually every Thursday.

The workshops will be hosted fortnightly between 17:00 to 19:00 due to the limitations of physical contact as prescribed by Covid-19 regulations. 

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Ramathuba says the workshops seek to orientate all mental healthcare practitioners including, among others, medical officers, medical interns and community service doctors, psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists, social workers and others.

“The workshops aims to familiarise these professionals with mental health care protocols and standard operating procedures in the Limpopo Province and contribute towards preparing medical officers interested in a Diploma in Mental Health(DMH) with the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa.”

In addition, Ramathuba says the workshop will assist the department in reducing medicolegal claims instituted against them as a result of lack of skills and ongoing training in the mental health care services.

“The time to treat mental healthcare with the same emergencies we do when confronted with other medical conditions is now and the training of our professionals will be a good starting point. We are all aware that all medical doctors and other mental healthcare professionals practicing in South Africa have been trained on mental health care but due to the evolving policies and other modalities of management of mental disorders, ongoing mental health care training remains necessary. This will improve skills in the management of various mental health disorders and compliance with the Mental Health Care Act No.17 of 2000(MHCA) and ensure that mental health care users(MHCU) are properly managed and that their safety is endured,” she concluded.