Mentally ill patients to be out in the cold

D-day is looming for 1900 mentally ill state patients being treated at Life Healthcare facilities. At the end of March an agreement between the Gauteng department of health and the private hospital group expires end and the patients will have to leave the group's hospitals.But their families are not equipped to care for them and the provincial department does not have enough facilities to accommodate themor the money to pay for their care in the private sector.