PSYCHIATRIC WAITING LIST EXTENDS TO UP TO 5 MONTHS

MANZINI - The number of people who seek psychological services has increased to an extent that some are now being placed on a waiting list, which extends to up to five months.

This was revealed by some people who went to the National Psychiatric Referral Hospital in Manzini, to make an appointment to have a session with the government psychologist stationed at the hospital earlier this month. They said they were aware that government had only one psychologist at the psychiatric centre, but they did not expect to be placed on the waiting list for about five months. They said they were told that they could only be able to see the psychologist in September 2023. “We believe mental health issues cannot wait, certainly not for that long (about five months),” they said.

Chances

This, they said, was because the more a person who required mental health services waited for it, the greater the chances that the situation would escalate and in a worst case scenario, the individual became suicidal. In that regard, they said placing such people on a waiting list for such a long period of time was as good as telling them that ‘they would get the services in their graves’. Therefore, they said since government was aware that the outbreak of COVID-19 and civil unrest, which escalated in June/July 2021, affected lives of many emaSwati, it should have anticipated the increase in the number of people who would require psychological services.

They added that government should have seen this even with the alarming statistics of gender-based violence cases, that a lot of emaSwati were in significant distress. Again, they highlighted that government should meet emaSwati halfway. They said it was a good thing that people sought psychological services and they should be afforded to them, instead of being placed on the waiting list, which stretched to about five months. Meanwhile, the Director of Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr Velephi Okello, acknowledged that government only had one clinical psychologist based at the National Psychiatric Referral Hospital. When she was asked what the ministry was doing to increase the availability of such services following the rapid increase in the number of people who sought psychological services, she said the availability of these services required them (ministry) to recruit and/or create additional positions for clinical psychologists.  

Available

However, she said this was currently not available due to the prevailing hiring freeze in the civil service, which had an impact on the number of health workers that the Ministry of Health could recruit at a time. After that, the director was asked as to what advice the ministry could give to emaSwati who were seeking psychological services, given the long waiting period due to the fact that the lone available clinical psychologist was fully booked. In response, she said since there were various psychological needs for patients, some of these required counselling and there were a number of trained psychologists and counsellors in the country, who might not be in the government system. She said some patients who required clinical psychologists could access them through the private health sector. Again, the director was asked what could be the cause of the rise in the need for psychological services in the country and how it could be addressed and/or avoided.

She said it was difficult to say with conviction what the cause of the perceived increase in demand for these services was. However, she said the long waiting list might be attributed to the shortage of clinical psychologists in the country. She added that there might also be an increased awareness about the need to seek mental health services by the public, thus the increased demand for the services. Furthermore, she said there was a possibility of social and environmental stressors in recent times as a result of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the Swatini Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) Communications and Advocacy Officer, Sakhile Dlamini, encouraged emaSwati to also visit non-governmental organisations (NGOs) like them for such services. She said as SWAGGA, on average, they saw about 200 clients per month and attended to approximately 600 through their toll-free line; 951.

Accommodate

“We have since extended our working days, as we now open on Saturdays to accommodate those who are working and pupils. “Through our toll-free line, some of our clients get the help they need as the calls are attended to by our social workers,” the communications and advocacy officer said. She added that if people came to their centres, they would get assistance on the same day. She said clients might find a queue, but they would definitely be attended to on the very same day. Moreover, she highlighted that they did work on appointments, but attended to those who had come or called. However, Dlamini mentioned that if a client required clinical psychologists, they would do the referral.

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