Appointing an accountant and former banker as Mount Carmel's neo CEO suggests that the mental healthcare hospital has financial and accountability issues to overcome, Partit Demokratiku said today. 

In a statement following Stephen Sultana's appointment, PD noted the challenge inherent in plans to build a new mental healthcare hospital by Mater Dei, with all the logistical problems a shift to the new facility could bring with it.  

But the country's biggest mental health challenge was finding ways of addressing such issues at a community level, the party said. 

PD pointed out that around Mount Carmel had around 600 patients on its books, with a considerable number of others ‘on leave’.

The hospital, it said, was not serving just as a mental hospital but also had residential halls with sick elderly people which did not belong there. Another 250 patients were there for rehabilitation rather than psychiatric care.

This was bumping up hospital upkeep costs to far higher than they should be, the party argued.

PD also noted that in the two years prior to the last election, a number of workers not involved in care were employed at the hospital and these could also be a financial burden.

It seemed that more human resources were needed in certain disciplines but more accountability was needed, PD said.