The South Rand Hospital needs a dedicated psychiatric ward to “be set up as soon as possible with enough trained staff and security”‚ the Democratic Alliance (DA) said. The party’s provincial health spokesperson‚ Jack Bloom‚ paid the facility a visit on Wednesday “after receiving reports from concerned patients and relatives”.He said that “an influx of psychiatric patients is causing consternation…as they are mixed with other patients who find their behaviour disturbing‚ and some staff are not trained to deal with the special treatment that they need”.The increase in patient numbers‚ Bloom elaborated‚ followed “the temporary closure of the Chris Hani Baragwanath casualty unit which is undergoing renovations”.“Patients with schizophrenia‚ bipolar disorder‚ suicidal tendencies and drug addictions are now admitted for 72 hours for observation and treatment‚” he said.“There appeared to be about 30 such patients in the entire hospital who can exhibit strange or violent behaviour. I saw a mattress that had been burned by one mentally disturbed patient‚ and other beds that were broken by violence.”“It's not a good situation where the behaviour of mentally ill people in ordinary wards upsets other patients and visitors.”..