MUMN is insisting that the worst wards in Mount Carmel Hospital be evacuated by the end of September 2019 and the timelines cannot be postponed.

It is not acceptable for both the patients or the staff working in these wards to have works postponed further, the MUMN said in a statement. The administration of Mount Carmel Hospital is not being sensitive or efficient to address these challenges, the nurses and midwives union said.

On a different note, MUMN disassociated itself from certain comments made by certain NGO’s that Mount Carmel Hospital should be closed down and all patients are to be sent to the community.

When other countries closed down institutions such as Mount Carmel Hospital, the patients were the ones who suffered most and the whole system of mental health care literally collapsed.

There is no doubt that the hospital, with all the structural defects, has to be upgraded.  With  all  the  community  services  in  mental  health,  the  admissions  to  the hospital are still  on  the increase and certain wards have currently a huge problem of overcrowding.

These NGOs, with their comments in the media, are showing  huge  disrespect  towards  the  patients  and  the  health professionals  working  at the hospital.  The nurses there are offering a sterling service to their patients, the MUMN said. The nurses are shocked by these irresponsible comments given by NGOs who then refer patients to the same hospital

MUMN would also like to clarify that the 106 patients which were transferred from Mt. Carmel Hospital and which the Health Minister made reference to in his speech were patients from the old people’s home situated in  Mount Carmel Hospital and not patients suffering from mental illness.