The father of a 14-year-old is incensed after his daughter was put in Mount Carmel Hospital's female ward instead of the youth section, even though she "does not suffer from psychiatric problems".

Albert*, 38, has expressed concern over the repercussions this move will have, and insists Abigail* should be with people her age at the Young Persons' Unit (YPU), not with "with mental cases" in the hospital's Female Ward One, simply because "there is no space".

As she sat beside her father, Abigail looked younger than she really is, with a small frame and child-like features.

It is hard to imagine she can be unruly, but last month she was escorted by police out of Jeanne Antide Home, a residence for girls with behavioural problems, to Mount Carmel.

Albert, whose daughter stays with him at the weekend, shook his head: "My daughter is no criminal. Why did they need three policemen to escort a young girl out?"

The girl's childhood has been far from perfect. The youngest of five siblings, aged 16 to 20, she was put in a Church home at eight because of an abusive mother. Her parents separated and since their father had to work, all the children were placed under a care order.

This means children become the sole responsibility of the Social Policy Minister. Being the youngest, she is the only one of his children who remains under a care order, while her brothers live at home.

When she turned 11, she moved to Jeanne Antide Home until she was sent to the YPU, within Mount Carmel, last month. This usually happens when a girl is out of control and deemed a real danger to herself and others.

Abigail defended her actions and said since she had never grown tall or strong, she always had to fight her way through life: "I'm always the one to blame. I'm always the one sent to YPU, while the others are only punished by being told to turn out their lights early. I'm a normal quiet girl who loses her temper."

This time, however, she was in for a shock because she landed in the female ward of Mount Carmel, instead of YPU, which is an eight-bedded multi-disciplinary residential therapeutic unit equipped with classroom and occupational therapy facilities.

"My daughter is not a mental case. She's unruly, but that's no excuse for keeping her locked up with those who have psychiatric problems," her father said.

Abigail admitted she hated it when she was shuttled to school in a Mount Carmel van, which carried the hospital logo and the acronym SMC on the side: "I want to go home. At least nobody will pick on me and my father can take care of me."

In the past week, professionals agreed Abigail can slowly start returning to Jeanne Antide Home, but she still has to spend three to four days at the hospital.

When contacted, Mount Carmel psychiatry director Joseph Saliba said he could not divulge information on patients.

However, he said that "for various reasons" YPU, which can take four males and four females, was not always in a position to accommodate young people.

He said that when young people were placed in an adult ward they were under a high level of supervision, where possible on a one-to-one basis.

"Both in the YPU and adult wards, the therapeutic programme is geared towards getting them back to their normal mainstream school and completely out of hospital as soon as possible," Dr Saliba said.

However, psychologist Mary Anne Lauri said this was far from the ideal and placing a child with behavioural problems at Mount Carmel was not a solution. She lamented the lack of supportive structures to deal with such situations, a sentiment echoed recently by Children Commissioner Carmen Zammit and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech.

Dr Lauri said that without the proper structures in place, children could easily fall through the safety net: "Unfortunately, in Malta there's a stigma attached to Mount Carmel, so the very fact she was put in a mental institution is damaging. She already has problems and this will aggravate matters."

Dr Lauri added that if Abigail was being taken to school in a Mount Carmel van, it would only make matters worse, because her friends would find out and label her.

Dr Lauri called for better structures within the community, such as a flatlet catering for one professional and four young people, which would allow them to grow and develop within a stable environment.

When contacted, Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea said he was aware of these issues and a working group had been set up to look into how YPU could be reformed, and determine if it should be moved out of Mount Carmel and into the community. In the meantime, Abigail continues to live most of her week in a psychiatric ward. As she prepared to dress up for carnival yesterday her face lit up, but when she remembered she had to return to Mount Carmel tomorrow her bottom lip stuck out in protest: "I want to stay home with my father and brothers, I'm happy here."

* Names have been changed to protect the people's identity.