The new Mental Health Act will 'hopefully' be debated in Parliament over the next few weeks, Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea said.

Speaking during a conference organised by the Maltese Association of Psychiatric Nurses to discuss the issue of violence and aggression in health care, Mr Galea said this could possibly happen within the next fortnight.

The long awaited revised Mental Health Act, that has been in the pipeline for over a decade, is very important since it gives more weight to patients’ rights and ensures their involvement in their care plan, Mr Galea said

He added that the law gives patients a voice when it comes to selecting their carers to ensure that there is no abuse. Carers no longer have to be next of kin.

Lawyer Chris Cilia said that nurses were highly regulated under Maltese law. There were many laws and regulations in place to ensure they carried out their job properly. While this was laudable, the law did not offer them protection in cases when they were attacked at work.

A nurse who was attacked by a patient had the remedies available to all citizens – they of filing a police report. Something had to be done to address this, he said, adding that the Council for Nurses and Midwives, set up by law, could make recommendations on this note.

During the conference nurses spoke about the need for better training to ensure they know what do to in cases of aggression, given the lack of policies.