Mental health hospital opened in Kimberly
The new Mental Health Hospital recently opened by the ANC led government in Kimberley, Northern Cape will relieve pressure on West End Hospital. Psychiatric services in this province were highly fragmented and were provided at facilities in Bloemfontein and Cape Town. This hospital will bring together mental health services in the province and will offer treatment including child and adolescent mental health services, forensic mental health services and general adult psychiatric services.
Kimberley’s West End Hospital was opened in 1991 to provide acute, chronic and outpatient psychiatric services. Although this was a major step, it has since fallen short of the norms and standards set out in the new Mental Health Act and its legislative reforms. The new hospital is already open and 160 patients have been transferred from West End Hospital. It has a capacity of 287 beds, and will be operationalised in phases. The ANC commends our government for responding to the concerns of the Northern Cape people. Eleven more hospitals have also been identified for refurbishment and will also be capacitated to accommodate mental health units.
