Health Minister, Mgr Scicluna stress on community care for mental health sufferers

A mental health sufferer would benefit more if he is treated to be treated within the community rather than being institutionalised, Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia and Auxiliary Bishop Mgs Charles Scicluna agreed.

Meeting with the management of Mount Carmel Hospital, the health minister also revealed that a census was underway to determine which patients could start benefitting from community care and those patients whose primary care was now focused on their physical health, rather than mental.

With 400 beds, Mount Carmel is currently home to mental health sufferers, serves as an elderly residential home and the forensic section which forms part of the Corradino Correctional Facility.

The hospital has its own financial woes and the government is seeking to find ways to address its expenses. Rather than going for sharp cost-cutting exercises, the minister wants to implement "cost-savings" which would be achievable through investment in community care.

"This is the way forward," Farrugia said. "With multidisciplinary teams available in the community, Mount Carmel would be slowly cutting its costs while the patient would still be living with his family or friends."

The health ministry is currently in the process of implementing the Mental Health Act through a three-year programme.

"The focus is on the patient's integration in society and not cutting them out," the minister said.

Apart from patients whose primary care is related to their mental health problems, there are other patients, especially the elderly, who receive physical health care.

The government is also seeking to tap into EU funds in order to invest in a new acute mental health hospital at the perimeter of Mater Dei Hospital.

On his part, Mgr Scicluna said it was important for the Church to also prepare its priests in working in the community with these vulnerable persons.

He also said that the root causes of psychological problems were also changing and one of the influential elements was the social environment. In this aspect, he said, the Church must contribute for a health social environment.

"The institutionalisation of patients is not necessarily the best solution. Moreover, community care goes hand in hand with the teachings of the Church," Scicluna said.

He also had words of praise for the free healthcare provided by the state.