Updated - Adds government reaction
Children aged 16 and younger in certain wards at Mount Carmel Hospital are being exposed to sexual abuse and physical violence, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses claimed this morning.
The Health Ministry in a reaction said it had asked the Commissioner for Mental Health to investigate the claim and make his recommendations.
The MUMN in its statement complained that the Health Minister was focused on a patients profiling exercise and the building of a new mental hospital while being in total denial of the current situation at Mount Carmel Hospital.
The union said that at this hospital, drug addicts, children and patients suffering from various mental diseases were literally being nursed together.
"It would be better for the current minister to follow in the footsteps of his colleague the minister responsible for prisons and start refurbishing and added new wings at this hospital.
"The building of new wings was halted by the present administration to the detriment of the nurses and patients due to financial reasons," it said.
“The situation at Mount Carmel Hospital cannot remain hidden from the public.
“MUMN intends to start issuing regular press releases when nurses and patients are being put at peril due to lack of political commitment.
“It is a great pity that the Health Minister did not set up office in Mount Carmel Hospital as he had done in Mater Dei Hospital,” the union said.
GOVERNMENT REACTION
In a reaction, the Ministry of Health said the concern expressed by the MUMN refers to the YPU, where children and adolescents are kept under a care order.
It said the minister has already twice met these children, adolescents and their health care multi-disciplinary team professionals.
Moreover, the Ministryhas embarked on a project which will be submitted for EU funding and which will see the construction of new facilities. This will ensure that the children and adolescents will not be stigmatised by having a premises at Mount Carmel Hospital. The new facilities would also maximise the benefits and wellbeing of these individuals.
An action team has drawn up a comprehensive plan that includes the further training of professional health care providers within a framework of a multi-disciplinary team and also out patients’ facilities.
The ministry said that as soon as the MUMN issued its press statement alleging that “minors are being exposed to sexual and physical abuse”, it reported this allegation to the Commissioner for Mental Health for investigation and for his recommendations.