Newly appointed Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa has described her first few days in office as challenging after taking over from her predecessor who was harshly criticized for her handling of the deadly psychiatric patients fiasco.

At the beginning of the month‚ the country heard of how the department was directly responsible for the death of 94 psychiatric patients in a damning report by Health Ombudsman Malegapuru Makgoba that sent shock waves across the country.

“The first few days in office has been challenging. Firstly because we really had to deal with issue of restoring confidence of our people especially in the mental health services after the health Ombudsman report‚” said Ramokgopa.

“[Secondly] we had to support the families that are involved and also ensure that no other patient’s life is at risk.”

The health Ombudsman’s report into the deaths found that when former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu publicly announced 36 deaths in September‚ 77 patients had already died.

An investigation was launched following outrage from families who lost their loved ones after the decision to transfer them from the Gauteng facility

“I also had to motivate the department beside even though there was one section that was affected‚ the whole health system is really affected because many of our professionals and support staff are doing their best to provide healthcare‚” said Ramagkopa.

However‚ the department wasn’t dwelling on the negative but instead focusing on areas of progress‚ she said.

She described her predecessor as someone who worked “very hard” to ensure that there was “integrity” in managing finances and resources in the department as a result of obtaining unqualified reports for many years.

Ramokgopa is a former Deputy Health Minister and Health MEC in Gauteng from 1998 to 2006. She is also a former executive mayor in the City of Tshwane.

— TMG Digital