PN candidate urges Mount Carmel CEO to invite journalists into mental health hospital

Candidate Julie Zahra wants the CEO to invite journalists into Mount Carmel Hospital so that they can see

PN candidate Julie Zahra has urged Mount Carmel CEO Stephanie Xuereb to invite journalists into the mental health hospital so that they can witness first-hand the conditions of the hospital.

In an open letter sent out on Sunday, Zahra suggested that members of the press should be given the opportunity to visit Mount Carmel Hospital, freely or accompanied by a member of staff.

“I asked her to invite members of the press - journalists, camerapeople, photographers - to openly enter Mount Carmel, even on a guided tour or with someone nominated to accompany them, so that they can freely see the hospital with their own eyes, while respecting the privacy of patients,” Zahra said in a short video blog uploaded to Facebook.

B’mod regolari, nisma kemm l-isptar Monte Karmeli hu “not fit for purpose”. Mingħajr ma nneħħi l-ebda mertu lill-ħaddiema professjonali f’dan il-qasam l-awtoritajiet għandhom ikunu ċari mal-poplu. Għalhekk, sabiex il-poplu jserraħ rasu jien tlabt lill-kap eżekuttiv tal-isptar Monte Karmeli sabiex toħroġ invit miftuħ lill-membri tal-istampa u ttihom aċċess, b’mod urġenti, għal kull parti tal-isptar, sabiex fi privatezza assoluta għall-pazjenti, iżda b’mod liberu, jivverifikaw dak kollu li qed jghidu l-pazjenti, il-professjonisti u anki l-gvern stess. Dan għaliex kull persuna jistħoqqlu preżent u futur b’saħħtu, għalih u għal ta’ madwaru. Hekk irrid nibqa nkun il-vuċi tiegħek. Bernard Grech Partit Nazzjonalista NET News Times of Malta Lovin Malta MaltaToday The Malta Independent Newsbook.com.mt Illum Strada Rjali Malta Daily TheShiftNews Television Malta

Posted by JulieZahra.mt on Sunday, February 13, 2022

Last year, Malta’s Commissioner for Mental Health described Mount Carmel as “far from desirable” while urging hospital authorities to upgrade their protocols, facilities and services.

He said that a number of reforms in the mental health sector were put on pause for too long, instead appealing to health authorities to realign the work agreed upon in the Mental Health Strategy and proceed with implementation.

Mount Carmel’s state of neglect was laid bare in a 2018 auditor’s report, in which the Auditor General remarked that mental health and the island’s only mental health hospital “are still considered as secondary priority when compared to the rest of the lcoal public health sector.

The study found that MCH was severely under-resourced, both financially and in terms of human resources, while facing considerable internal challenges.

During a press conference last June, the Nationalist Party had peldged to close Mount Carmel Hospital and instead create a specialised hospital integrated with Mater Dei Hospital. Mount Carmel would instead be transformed into a public open space.

In the Budget for 2022, government promised to modernise Mount Carmel Hospital by renovating the first block and building a therapeutic garden instead of the shuttered block 10.

This will accompany a new psychiatric hospital that will be built next to Mater Dei hospital. Finance Minister Clyde Caruana had said that the new building will be ready in about four years.