The government will be implementing a mental health strategy plan from the year 2020, which will see the construction of an acute mental health hospital within Mater Dei, projected to cost 150 million euro; a 30 million euro structural refurbishment of Mount Carmel in five years; and an improved focus on community care, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne announced today.

GPs will also be trained in the field of mental health to better serve the community.

The announcement came after the National Audit Office published a damning report which criticised MCH’s infrastructure, sanitary facilities, security, human resources and community care.

Fearne said that the government had already begun to work on a plan for mental health and refurbishment in MCH, explaining that the hospital faced 'legacy problems’ due to a lack of attention from preceding governments. He also pointed to work already being conducted within the hospital to improve the current standard.

He acknowledged the shortcomings outlined in the report, stressing that the first step is recognizing the problems and finding a solution.

“Unlike others who just swept the problem under the rug and allowed it to grow,” he said.

Fearne highlighted that while there are certainly major issues facing the hospital, all the staff at MCH performed their service well.

Mental Health, he explained, will be a thematic policy in the national health plan from 2020-2030. The first draft of the plan, which will be discussed with stakeholders, will be issued in September, with a national conference on mental health taking place in November.

“It will be a systematic plan and not crisis management,” he said.

The plan for mental health will be built on three pillars, Fearne said. The first will focus on community care, which will see the increase in mental care facilities at Health Centres; an increase in daycare centers for mental health (which will be handled by the Health Department); and the training of family doctors within the community to deal with mental health issues.

The government is also going to open an Expression of interest for NGOs who wish to work with the government in terms of mental health care in the community.

“We need to stop competing and work together,” he said.

The second is the construction of an acute mental health hospital at Mater Dei, projected to cost 150 million euro, which will house 100 beds and have an outpatient center.

Speaking to The Malta Independent, Fearne said that the new building will not take up any space of ODZ or the nearby valley, saying that the government has already acquired some of the sites and is working with lands authority to acquire further.

The third is a major infrastructural overhaul at MCH, which is expected to take five years.  The first step, which Fearne explained will start in the coming days, is the relocation of patients within MCH who do not require mental health care in order to free up space onwards during the reconstruction period. Three empty wards will be ready for refurbishment in the coming weeks.

190 patients are expected to be relocated after consultation with mental health experts, while patients and offices within MCH will shift around different buildings when construction takes place.