Children with mental health problems should be offered treatment within the community and not at the Mount Carmel psychiatric hospital, Parliamentary Secretary for Community Care, Mario Galea, believes.
He plans to work towards setting up a treatment unit, specifically for children, located outside the Attard hospital.
Children with psychiatric problems are kept at Mount Carmel’s Young People’s Unit (YPU). However, those deemed to be “too disturbed” or dangerous for the unit are kept in adult wards.
Last month it emerged that five minors of the 10 being treated at Mount Carmel were being kept in the adult wards, with Children’s Commissioner Helen D’Amato expressing concern about the situation. Her office had recommended that the health authorities set up a section for these teenagers.
Mr Galea, who is responsible for the field of mental health, said: “If you ask me, I don’t think the current situation is ideal. I think we need to find a place for these children in the community.”
He said Family Minister Dolores Cristina was working on identifying a place that could serve as a residence for children with behavioural problems. This would address a gap in the welfare system.
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.
Mr Galea said he planned to do something similar for children with psychiatric problems that were currently held at the YPU. The idea was to relocate the YPU to premises outside the hospital grounds.
The first step, he said, was to bring all professional staff at Mount Carmel on board with the idea as some where sceptical.
Mr Galea said there would still be a small unit at the hospital for young people who had severe problems. The idea would be that they stayed there, under close observation, until the right treatment or medication was found. They would then move into the community home.
Last 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 YPU.
Asked if the adult areas were child-friendly, that is, suitable for children, a government 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.”