Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne inaugurated a completely renovated ward at the completely renovated ward at the Monte Karmeli HospitalHospital which will be used by patients who have been admitted to the Hospital for acute care for the first time or who have not been admitted to the Hospital for more than a year.
The renovation of this ward, which was carried out with an investment of more than €880,000, involved a number of structural works as well as investment in modern and safe systems for patients, also through the purchase of anti- ligature. During the inauguration, the Deputy Prime Minister explained how the thirteen patients of this ward will be receiving specialized psychiatric care as well as care and assistance from a multidisciplinary team that will follow the patient until he joins back in the society.
“The renovation of Admission Ward 4, is just one of the infrastructural projects currently underway at completely renovated ward at the Mount Carmel Hospital. After opening two renovated halls in the last two years, in the coming months we will continue with the structural and beautification works around the Hospital, out of respect for the historical architectural value of the building,” stated the Deputy Prime Minister. He reiterated that in recent years the field of mental health has been given great priority, as in parallel with the infrastructural investment, the mental health services offered in the community have increased.
“For the first time we have more patients receiving mental health care in the community than in the hospital itself,” said Deputy Prime Minister Fearne, who explained how this is the result of the implementation of the National Health Policy Mental. He referred in particular to the services of the mental health helpline, 1579, which in the year it was established assisted 7,500 people who called for help and also the Crisis Resolution Home Treatment which in the two years that long ago it assisted with the 600 patients and of which only 7% needed to be admitted to the Mount Carmel Hospital.
Here he also spoke about the investment in the human resource where he explained how the number of mental health specialists has doubled in the last ten years, so that now there are 34 psychiatrists offering their services in the health system public. The Deputy Prime Minister Fearne thanked all the workers of the mental health services, in particular those who will start operating from the new hall from tomorrow, and also the workers of the Foundation for Services Doctors who did the infrastructural works of the ward.
