MUMN orders nurses at Mount Carmel Hospital to refuse admission to illegal immigrants

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses has ordered its members to refuse admission to illegal immigrants at Mount Carmel Hospital.

MUMN cannot tolerate that nurses and patients are put at high risk for their safety due to flagrant “abuse” by illegal immigrants in the detention centres, the union said in a statement.

Illegal immigrants in detention centres are purposely causing “selfharm” with the intention of being transferred to Mt. Carmel Hospital to the detriment of the other patients and staff working there.

Such a high influx of illegal immigrants in the Mixed Admission Wards is causing serious harassment to other patients and staff, not to mention that such illegal immigrants are taking up beds much needed in Mt. Carmel Hospital.

These illegal immigrants “cause havoc and harassment” to the other patients and staff working in the Admission Wards. Such arrogance and abuse of the system from these illegal immigrants is compounded by the fact that the detention officers are stationed outside the ward, leaving the illegal immigrants unattended due to Covid measures, the MUMN said. Detention officers are being left outside the ward since the Mixed Admission Ward is small and due to Covid measures, social distance measures cannot be kept due to overcrowding.

The fact that illegal immigrants cannot be supervised by their detention officers makes it possible for them to be free to roam and harass other patients and staff in the ward. It is clear to all that illegal immigrants are purposely using the pretext of “self-harm” in a ward which does not cater for such high influx of illegal immigrants, the MUMN said. The overcrowding makes it more difficult to control such patients. Not to mention that the shortage of nurses at Mt. Carmel Hospital makes it impossible to control such patients, the union added.

MUMN cannot understand the rationale behind these decisions since at the detention centre there is a purposely built unit to cater for such situations. At Mt. Carmel Hospital, eight wards were closed down in the last six years with no new investment being done to cater for the needs of the mental health care in Malta. The lack of beds and lack of infrastructure has become a hazard to the nurses and the patients due to the overcrowding in all wards at the hospital, the union said.

MUMN later said that it had been informed that most of the illegal immigrants are going to be deployed elsewhere and removed from the Mixed Admission ward.

There is clear evidence that the illegal immigrants were using Mt. Carmel Hospital as a false pretext that once admitted, they can postpone (or avoid) repatriation.

MUMN has also been informed that the 250,000 euro centre built recently in the detention centre would be used in the future.

The Mental Health Commissioner released a statement on the matter.

“Under Maltese law, mental health services must respect individual qualities, abilities and diverse backgrounds and must be delivered without discrimination. As such, any persons who require attention should be given all the necessary care and protection.”

“Persons are admitted to Mount Carmel Hospital only after appropriate assessment indicating such need. Assessment of a person’s mental health challenges is done by specialists following relevant referral. This is a purely clinical decision based on the individual’s present situation and varies with each person. Alleging ulterior motives to persons seeking, or being referred for, psychological/psychiatric assessment and assistance is grossly unfair to persons who are suffering from mental health issues.”

“This is especially so in cases of self-harm. Such labelling may disincentivise people from urgently seeking help in difficult periods of their lives as well as further perpetuating the prevailing stigma surrounding mental illness, both of which may have disastrous consequences on the affected individual.”

The Commissioner for Mental Health appeals for respect and dignity always and at all times in decisions about care and treatment needs of persons suffering from mental health challenges and equal respect and dignity always and at all times towards all staff delivering mental health care and treatment in very challenging circumstances.

The Malta Refugee Council also issued a statement, arguing that it was shocked by the “lack of sensitivity” shown by the nurses’ union and urged it to withdraw instructions it had issued earlier in the day. The refugee council said “ample research and our own experiences confirm the severe psychological harm caused by detention. These are otherwise healthy men, women and children who are locked up - often without any legal basis - in living conditions best described as awful and undignified.”

“Too often we witness self-harm, suicide attempts and other actions that the Union brushes off as 'abuses of the system'. For us, these are not abuses but the extremely worrying effects of a policy that entirely dehumanises people who, very often, are already suffering from trauma and other severe mental health issues.”

The council said it sees such cases on a weekly basis and it is deeply saddened that this is the treatment Malta has chosen to offer them.