Care at Mount Carmel

I read with interest the letter by Mr Louis M. Bonnici, chairman of the Mount Carmel Hospital board (The Sunday Times, October 15).

As a current client of the hospital, on leave after a three-month stay, I agree with Mr Bonnici that both the majority of the general staff at Mt Carmel and Maltese Association of Psychiatric Nurses (MAPN) do a great job in mental health care in Malta.

However, what Mr Bonnici does not seem to know is that there are a considerable number of staff, doctors, nurses and administrative staff who feel the same way Mr Kevin Gafà, president of MAPN, states in the article by Charlot Zahra on "Psychiatric nurses and mental health care in Malta" (October 8) concerning the stigma attached to working in the hospital.

When I first arrived at Mount Carmel I was very ill and had a nurse with me 24 hours a day. During the time I spent in this situation I had several conversations with different members of staff who voiced Mr Gafa's opinion. In addition to the time spent at Mount Carmel, I have spent over two months in St Luke's Hospital this year. There are also members of staff there who live in fear of being sent to Mount Carmel and many who have worked there who would not wish to return.

A further point of staff irritation is, believe it or not, the annual Employee of the Year award, most care work that is carried out at the hospital is teamwork and many of the staff felt that it is unfair just to give an award to one person, when a whole team has been involved. I personally feel that it would be a good idea to make this a team award.

I would like to assure both Mr Bonnici and Mr Gafà that my letter is in no way meant to be criticism of the way that the hospital or MAPN are run. I have personally received considerable help from the staff in restoring me to good health.

However, it remains a sad fact of life that hospitals who offer service like Mount Carmel, throughout the world, have such a stigma attached to them. When I first entered Mount Carmel I was honestly ashamed to tell my friends where I was, some three months on I want to sing it from the roof-tops and praise the work that goes on there.

May I be so bold as to propose to Mr Bonnici and Mr Gafa, together with Mr Zahra, that the board, MAPN, other unions at the hospital and clients, such as myself who are fit and able enough, all work together to rid Mount Carmel of its stigma and make the hospital a leading light to the world in psychiatric care and nursing. I hereby publicly volunteer to take part in such a process.