New mental health law promised by year end

Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea yesterday promised to present the Mental Health Bill in Parliament this year.

The reform of the 1976 legislation related to mental health remains in the offing six years after the government first started working on it, leading professionals in the area to think it was all a mirage.

During a press conference at Mount Carmel Hospital, Mr Galea admitted that the Bill has been at the office of the Attorney General for a long time: "Laws take longer than they should at the Attorney General's office". He gave his reassurances however, saying the Bill was high on the government's priority list: "I give my word that the Bill will be moved in Parliament and approved by this year."

One of the proposals in the new law involves the appointment of a commissioner to oversee new hospital admissions, the individual's treatment plan and the length of their stay.

The updated law would ensure that community care is a patient's fundamental right and would act as a spur for more to be done in the area.

Hospital CEO Edward Borg said several patients required psychiatric and medical support when they reintegrated in society. They received such support through the outreach team, which allowed them to have a better quality of life while living in the community.

In 2008, a total of 84 patients benefitted from this service in which there were over 5,000 house visits. Through the reintegration programme, patients who had been at this hospital for 30 years were now back in the community, he said.

Patients who have been institutionalised for many years relearn the life skills they have forgotten in two hostels in Marsa and Floriana. "They can lead a semi-independent life," Mr Borg said.

A day care centre in Cospicua provides a multidisciplinary service to promote the well-being of people with mental health problems living in the community.

Set up in 2008, it saw 49 patients - of these 15 were new cases and referred to the centre by the hospital. An average of 10 patients attend the centre on a daily basis.

Last year, 343 patients were transferred from the psychiatric outpatients unit to the health centres. There were 27 new admissions at the hospital and 14 new admissions in the psychiatric unit.

The outpatients unit is following 15,130 cases, of which over 11,000 had an appointment in 2008.