Round the clock psychiatric support to be provided at Mater Dei’s emergency department

Psychiatrists based at Mater Dei Hospital will be present at the Accident and Emergency Department at all times as from Monday, the Ministry for Health has told The Malta Independent on Sunday. At the moment, psychiatrists are only available in the Department, until 5.30pm.

It is estimated that around 25 per cent of all patients in a general hospital also have psychiatric problems. Clinical Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry in the Ministry of Health, Dr Anton Grech, said that patients can have physical or psychiatric emergencies separately or at the same time.

“This is a major leap forward for patients with a psychiatric emergency and the intention is that this service will be ex- tended to a whole multi-disciplinary team,” he said. He went on to say that the Psychiatry Department, in line with its philosophy that mental and physical health are inseparable, maintains a strong presence at Mater Dei Hospital.

The Hospital has is a Psychiatric Ward to which patients who need a close psychiatric follow-up after admission to other wards in Mater Dei can be admitted. A team of psychiatrists provides consultation services to the entire hospital.

The link between physical and psychiatric illness strongest in neurological disorders, Grech explained. “Psychiatrists, psychologists and neurologists work very closely together, and at Mater Dei Hospital there is a Neuropsychiatry Team whose work includes joint clinics with neurologists and assessments of -patients prior to certain neurosurgical procedures.”

He said that 2018 was a landmark year for neuropsychiatry, as it was the first time that neurosurgery for obsessivecompulsive disorder had been carried out, under the new Mental Health Act. This operation was performed by renowned Maltese Neurosurgeon, Ludvic Zrinzo.

This extension of hours has been a long time coming, with several NGOs, Mental Health Commissioner Dr John Cachia, as well as CEO of the Richmond Foundation Stephania Dimech Sant when speaking with on Indepth, calling for this essential service.

In 2012, a total of 1,282 patients turned to Mater Dei’s Crisis Intervention Team for help, 169 of whom were admitted to Mount Carmel. The team was established in 2010, by then Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea, and included eight professionals including doctors, psychologists, physiatrists and social workers.

The unit offers its services throughout the week, including public holidays. It also offers help to relatives of those suffering from mental illness and carries out follow-ups until the patients are deemed stable and no longer at risk.

In 2015, Mario Galea said that the intervention team had been neglected and down-sized, with the eight professionals being replaced by two psychiatric nurses. Last year, he again called on the government to reestablish the Crisis Intervention Team, as there were indications that mental health problems were on the rise, as were the number of suicides.

The MP said that 50 per cent of young people with mental health problems begin to show symptoms of such problems at the age of 14. “This is why the government must start screening early enough, so that care can be given early – which results in far more success.”

Galea called on the government to employ more psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, occupational therapists and psychiatric nurses. He said there is a need to create more supported housing so that people will be be able to live within the community if they can, and not have to stay at Mount Carmel Hospital.