The new psychiatric hospital, which will form part of the Mater Dei complex, will have a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit, a Substance Use Disorder Unit, an Adolescent Psychiatry Unit and an Old Age Psychiatry Unit, sources close to the government have told The Malta Independent on Sunday.
The Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit will be divided into three levels of care.
Each ward will have a female and male wing and will be designed according to their specific.
The construction of the psychiatric hospital forms part of the government’s mental health strategy from the year 2020 and is projected to cost €150 million.
Mount Carmel Hospital (MCH) will also undergo a €30 million structural refurbishment, while the government will work on improving community care with the assistance of NGOs and GPs.
The announcement that mental health will be a key feature in the National Health Strategy 2020-2030 came after the National Audit Office published a damning report criticising MCH’s infrastructure, sanitary facilities, security, human resources and community care.
Speaking at an event last Friday, Minister of Health Chris Fearne said that the government had already begun work on a plan for mental health and refurbishment at MCH, explaining that the hospital faced ‘legacy problems’ due to a lack of attention by preceding governments. He also pointed to work already being carried out in the hospital to improve the current standard.
He acknowledged the shortcomings outlined in the report, stressing that the first step is to recognise the problems and find a solution.