A teenager who had been stopped from engaging in sexual relations with other patients at Mt Carmel Hospital has been transferred back to a children’s ward and is being watched round the clock by two security guards.

Shortly after being transferred to a ward that was not designated for minors, the teenager was involved in two incidents of a sexual nature with other patients. The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses had said that some underage patients at the psychiatric hospital were exposed to risks of sexual abuse and even physical violence.

The Commissioner for Mental Health investigated the case and found that the union’s concerns were substantiated. 

As a result of the investigation, the boy was removed from the mixed ward, where he had been for the past three months, and again placed in the children’s ward, but now under constant supervision. The MUMN welcomed the move.

mxuereb@timesofmalta.com

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