Five minors of the 10 being treated at Mount Carmel Hospital are being kept in adult wards, a government spokesman has confirmed.
The three boys and two girls, all teenagers, were described as “too disturbed” to remain in the young people’s section but the Children’s Commissioner has expressed concern about the situation.
The spokesman admitted the adult wards were “not particularly child friendly” although “staff do their best to mitigate the youngsters’ discomfort”.
Earlier this month Labour Party health spokesman Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca criticised the “unacceptable” system at Mount Carmel under which children are kept with older patients as opposed to living in the Young People’s Unit (YPU).
She said these young patients were not under constant supervision and had to shower in common areas with adults. She also called on the Children’s Commissioner to intervene.
A spokesman for the Parliamentary Secretariat responsible for community care said the YPU, which can take up to eight patients, was intended for therapeutic intervention, not mere containment.
“Not all youngsters can benefit from the stay at YPU as they have challenging behaviour and may even disrupt or pose dangers for other youngsters,” he said.
“Youngsters admitted to the YPU sometimes become too disturbed for containment and need temporary transfer to more secure acute adult wards, which also gives the youngster a therapeutic message that such challenging behaviour is not tolerated in the YPU. Sometimes, youngsters no longer need to be in hospital, but no suitable long term residential or foster placement can be found.”
Children’s residential homes cannot cater for the needs of all children with behavioural problems or mental health problems so they sometimes end up at Mount Carmel. This often emerges during court cases where magistrates hear how troubled teenagers are kept at the mental health hospital for lack of a better option.
Currently, there are 10 minors at the hospital. They include three boys (one aged 11 and two 12) and two girls (aged 11 and 16) in the YPU and another three boys (aged 13, 15 and 16) and two girls (both 16) in the respective male and female adult wards.
Asked if the areas were child friendly, that is, suitable for children, the spokesman said: “The YPU is as child friendly as its specialised function permits. The other settings are not particularly child friendly but staff do their best to mitigate the youngsters’ discomfort.”
He said so far as human resources permitted, youngsters in adult sessions always had a nurse or carer specifically assigned to them to supervise their safety and keep them company.
Referring to the showers, the spokesman said in the acute ward there was a shower area which consisted of individual cubicles with doors and a staff safety-observation window.
Youngsters were supervised when showering but did not shower at the same time as adults.
Children Commissioner Helen D’Amato said she was concerned about the situation at Mount Carmel and disagreed with allowing children to be kept in adult sections. Her office had recommended that the health authorities set up a section for these teenagers.
According to her recommendations, children should only remain at Mount Carmel for treatment for the minimum period possible and therapeutic support ought to be provided within the community to avoid institutionalisation, she said.
Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses president Paul Pace agreed the situation was unacceptable and that adult wards were no place for children.
Placing disturbed teenagers among adults also backfired against nursing staff and the adult patients who were exposed to the violent behaviour of the youngsters with behavioural problems, Mr Pace said.