Elderly patients to be moved out of Mount Carmel Hospital, allowing it to focus on mental health

Chris Fearne holds a press conference to discuss plans for Mount Carmel Hospital

Elderly patients in Mount Carmel Hospital will start to be relocated to other facilities in the coming days, in order to lighten the hospital's load for it to be able to focus on mental health treatment, deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne said on Friday morning. 

The minister was addressing a press conference at the Mount Carmel mental health hospital, the week after a report by the National Audit Office highlighted the facility's state of abandonment.

Fearne, who is also health minister, welcomed the report, arguing that its findings reinforced the policy chosen by government for the sector.

He pointed out that the NAO had noted that the problems faced at the hospital were legacy problems, rather than new ones. "They have been coming for a long time, and are mainly due to a lack of attention by previous administrations."

The first step in addressing the problem, he said, was acknowledging its existence, something the government was now doing. "Nobody is going to do it if not us."

He explained that the report had identified six overall issues with the hospital: structural issues, security issues, the need for more human resources, the lack of a strategic and holistic plan for the sector, the need for community based treatment, and the fact that the hospital also housed patients who did not need to be in a mental health facility.

Fearne said that work on addressing a number of the matters flagged had already begun, and that the government was currently finalising a holistic 10-year plan to bring mental health on par with physical health.

He stressed that this did not mean that work would start in ten years' time, insisting that changes had already started to be implemented.

Fearne said he expected the strategy to be finalised by Novemeber, when a national conference on mental health is planned. In the meantime, he said discussions were underway with NGOs and other stakeholders.

Three-pillar plan

The strategy, he said, would be based on the three pillars: the strengthening of community-based care, the setting up of a new hospital, and structural work on the Mount Carmel building. 

To improve community-based care, Fearne said more clinics and day centres would be needed, especially in the north of Malta. Moreover, he said the government was working to allow family doctors to offer treatment for some mental health issues, which they were already being trained to do.

The government, he said, would be issuing an expression of interest later this week for NGOs that wish to be involved in community-based care initiatives.

Turning to the topic of a new hospital which is to be built in the vicinity of Mater Dei, Fearne said that part of the land had already been secured by the health department, which was now working on obtained the remainder of the earmarked area. The hospital, once completed, will have 100 beds and will function as an acute mental health facility.

Finally, he said the government had started, and will continue, to aggressively address structural deficiencies at Mount Carmel, for which €30 million have already been allocated.

Work was ongoing on a number of wards, he said. This would lead to a complete reorganisation of the whole hospital, which will also see a number of patients transferred to other facilities. The hospital's geriatric ward will be closed by the end of 2018.