Sarepta Old Age Home Overwhelmed by Psychiatric Care Burden

ActionSA is alarmed by findings from an oversight visit conducted at Sarepta Old Age Home in Kuilsrivier where a facility is carrying a burden it was never designed nor adequately resourced to bear. 

Sarepta Old Age Home currently accommodates 136 residents, with approximately 60% of these psychiatric patients who have been discharged from hospitals into the facility’s care, while only 40% are elderly residents without mental health conditions – the individuals the home was originally established to serve.

The oversight visit revealed a facility under severe operational and financial strain, with staff doing their utmost despite being placed in an impossible situation. Among the most concerning findings were a nurse-to-patient ratio of approximately 1:20, far below what is required to safely care for a population with psychiatric needs.

Nurses and care staff are at times subjected to physical assaults by patients while carrying out their duties. Staff have received no training in psychiatric or mental healthcare, despite the increasing number of psychiatric patients being placed at the facility. Allegations were made that this trend has been driven by higher subsidy rates attached to psychiatric placements than to standard elderly care.

Furthermore, no relief staff are provided when nurses take sick leave or annual leave, leaving the facility chronically understaffed. A persistent funding shortfall that prevents the home from adequately meeting the needs of both residents and staff.

These findings point to a systemic failure by both the health and social development authorities. Psychiatric patients deserve appropriate, specialised care, while elderly residents deserve facilities equipped to meet their needs. Instead, both vulnerable groups are being failed by a system that shifts responsibility without providing the necessary resources.

It is deeply unfair that dedicated nurses and caregivers are expected to manage complex psychiatric cases without the training, staffing or support required to do so safely. This not only compromises the wellbeing of residents but also places frontline workers at unnecessary risk.

ActionSA will therefore submit formal parliamentary oversight questions to the relevant health and social development authorities to establish:

• What plans exist to address the critical nurse-to-patient ratio at Sarepta and similar facilities.
• What specialised psychiatric training is being provided, or will be provided, to nursing and care staff working in old age homes.
• What measures are being implemented to end the practice of placing psychiatric patients in facilities that are not designed or adequately equipped to provide appropriate mental healthcare.
• What additional funding, staffing support and relief mechanisms will be made available to Sarepta and comparable institutions.

The challenges identified at Sarepta are unlikely to be isolated. They raise broader concerns about how mental healthcare patients are being accommodated across the province and whether old age homes are increasingly being expected to fulfil functions for which they were never intended. 

ActionSA remains committed to protecting the dignity of elderly residents, ensuring that mental healthcare users receive appropriate treatment, and standing with the nurses and caregivers who continue to serve under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. We will continue to hold the relevant authorities accountable and will closely monitor conditions at Sarepta until meaningful interventions are implemented.

ActionSA Key Pillar: Obsession with Rule of Law.