Psychiatric patient dies after jumping from window at South Rand Hospital 

13 May 2016

I am concerned by the reported death of a mentally ill patient whose body was found yesterday after jumping from a window at the South Rand Hospital in south Johannesburg.

According to the Gauteng Health Department, the man was admitted on 24 April as a psychiatric patient and then transferred to a general ward with no signs of psychosis after assessment.

On Wednesday this week he was transferred to a general ward for renal failure treatment where he allegedly locked himself in a toilet and then jumped out the window, dying instantly.

It is very disturbing that this happened three months after another mentally ill patient raped a patient at the same hospital.

This raises questions about the adequacy of facilities and the treatment expertise for psychiatric patients at the hospital, which has had a large increase of mentally patients due to the temporary closure of the casualty unit at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital which is undergoing renovations.

I warned about the problems this caused when I visited the hospital in July last year. 

We need assurance from the department that the hospital has the expertise and proper safeguards to treat large numbers of psychiatric patients.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, 13 May 2016