In mental health we have strengthened and we will continue to strengthen services in the community, so that everyone can be given the support they need in an environment that is more like that of home than that of a hospital. This also further reduces the stigma associated with seeking help when needed.
This was supported by the Prime Minister Robert Abela during a visit he made to the Monte Carmeli hospital, accompanied by the Minister for Health and Active Aging Jo Etienne Abela, during which he had a discussion with the management and the workers of the same hospital, who among others discussed the vision for mental health care in our country and how from their experience they believe that that vision can continue to be carried out in the best way so that everyone is given the best service, in an appropriate environment and with a service that is increasingly focused in the community.
In fact, a clear example of what is being carried out, the Prime Minister saw it working in practice and even had the chance to discuss it with the patients themselves in the Maria Sciberras ward, known as the Female Dual Diagnostic Unit, which welcomes patients women who have mental health challenges and drug addiction. A ward that is completely anti-ligature , meaning that it has been designed in such a way that patients cannot hurt themselves or each other. But what stands out the most in this ward, is the way care is being given, which is preparing the patients more and more to be able to live independently again, including by cooking for them and for – the other patients of the ward and wash their clothes, among others.
The Prime Minister here reiterated how such projects that this Government has invested in, are giving life to the national strategy for mental health which, among others, focuses on strengthening the infrastructure in this area. An investment that he described as one that goes beyond the building itself, because it is an investment in the people who need this service who in the best environment are given the opportunity to spend their time in this hospital prepares them to live in the community again.
In fact, the same strategy also talks about another priority for this Government, that where possible, the treatment is done in the community. Another priority that is no longer on paper but is being carried out, among them with another project that was visited by the Prime Minister Robert Abela that was carried out by this Government, that of Dar Sebħ Đdid. This is a halfway house, which welcomes patients who after receiving treatment in the hospital are given the opportunity to integrate themselves back into society. Here, patients can live normally, in a home environment, under the supervision of professional staff.
In the words of the professionals, this home is giving these patients the confidence to start living again in the community and independently. With the service in this building it also joins other services such as the Crisis Resolution Home Treatment which was introduced by this Government where a patient is referred by a psychiatrist in Mater Dei to a team of nurses and psychiatrists in -community. Which service, in practice it meant that with the 700 patients who used this service you had 93% of the cases, who were given the necessary help without having to be admitted to the Monte Carmeli Hospital.
With community services becoming more accessible over the years, even with Helpline 1579, which is a service offered every day that offers immediate help and guidance when a person needs it, which since it was introduced in 2022, is receiving an average of 700 calls per month.
The Prime Minister talked about how in the mental health sector, always with the dialogue with those who employ the daily services, the people and their different needs when it comes to this type of care they are kept at the center of every decision. From an infrastructural project whose design is intended to offer specialized care, to the introduction of new services that are always making help more accessible and that you can find it a few steps away from your home to other improvements that even if it affects one person are we carry it out to really make a difference.
In fact , the Prime Minister visited a new Outpatient Clinic , in which the services of the Tommaso Chetcuti Center are being provided, the works on which are part of the modernization of the Monte Karmeli Hospital. This new Outpatients Clinic includes three consultation rooms, a treatment facility, and ancillary spaces. The idea behind this investment is that when the patient goes back to live in the community, he will continue to be followed by the Professionals, this service will not be provided in the wards of the Monte Carmeli Hospital but in an appropriate environment that even contributes to the person and their family receiving an amazing service.
Another project that joins a list of other projects that are being worked on, including the one that will lead to a deserted space being turned into a recreational garden for minor patients on an area of 1,100 square meters, the renovation of Block 1, Block 6 and Female Ward 7 and the therapeutic garden on an area of 4,500 square meters together with the construction of a new unit of modern acute psychiatry care in Mater Dei, among others.
Parallel projects with the best quality services spread throughout the country.
Photos: OPM
