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SOUTH Africa’s top psychiatrist has called on the Eastern Cape Health Department to recruit more skilled medical professionals to improve the province’s mental health sector.

SA Society for Psychiatrists’ (Sasop) president Dr Thabo Rangaka said administrative inefficiency and inadequate and inappropriate staffing issues, which hampered access for patients to mental health care and treatment in the province, had to be addressed.

Rangaka was speaking at a meeting of the provincial branch of Sasop over the weekend where he said the Eastern Cape, whose leaders were at the forefront of the liberation struggle, had been dogged by inordinate poverty, under-development, socio-economic deprivation, infrastructural deterioration and administrative incompetence.

He said evidence of this was the inaccessibility of hospitals in rural areas as a result of impassable roads.

It was also the reason why the national executive council of the ruling ANC party was now evaluating the Eastern Cape with a view to applying urgent corrective measures to revitalise it, said Rangaka.

He said Sasop continual ly received complaints about under- staffing at the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital’s (CMH) mental health unit, Dora Nginza Hospital and the Elizabeth Donkin Psychiatric Hospital in Port Elizabeth, and the Tower Psychiatric Hospital in Fort Beaufort, which does not have a single psychiatrist on its staff.

Rangaka also criticised the lack of proper pharmaceutical services, citing CMH where he said patients were not issued with medication after 1pm and often had to return to the pharmacy the following day at great cost.

“Besides, psychiatric medicines are often out of stock. The effect of this interruption of medication is that the illness becomes worse and more difficult to control,” he added.

Rangaka also castigated the provincial Health Department for not properly utilising two child psychiatrists based in Port Elizabeth.

“It seems they are not deployed to run a much needed child psychiatric service, and are instead misused and expected to deal with adult patients.”

He said the department also neglected to deal speedily with applications from psychiatrists to work in the province.

He said Sasop was willing to work with government to promote mental wellness and prevent the marginalisation of the country’s vulnerable citizens.

Commenting on Rangaka’s speech, Health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said the department was aware of the shortage of clinicians, but said measures had been put in place to address the problem.

“But it must be kept in mind that this is not only an Eastern Cape problem, but a global one.”

See opinion. - By EDDIE BOTHA

Investigations Editor