Three new mental health centres will be opened in Cospicua and in the central and northern regions next year, Clyde Caruana announced in Monday’s budget speech.
The regional mental health centres are part of a significant shift towards community-based mental healthcare, moving away from the traditional institutional model.
The centres aim to bring essential services closer to people’s homes and workplaces, Caruana said, as he detailed plans to upgrade the National Mental Health Services at a community level, in line with international best practices.
The new regional hubs are expected to provide a “more pleasant and safe environment” for service users, he said.
Crucially, they will offer enhanced access to mental healthcare through “wider accessibility, a consolidated multi-disciplinary approach and improved continuity of care”.
The move is designed to make mental health services more readily available at a time when authorities and campaigners continue to battle mental health stigma and taboos.
Caruana said a new social centre would also be opened, specifically for individuals who use Mount Carmel Hospital services. This is anticipated to further assist in the integration and support of mental health service users within the community.
Mired in controversy
Mental health has been mired in controvery for years, not least because Mount Carmel Hospital, Malta’s main psychiatric facility, has grappled with dilapidated infrastructure, safety issues and systemic failures within the mental health sector.
The Victorian-era structure is widely considered outdated and unfit for modern psychiatric care. Patients have said it is a generally depressing, institutional environment and likened it to a prison rather than a healing space.
Successive governments have promised to close or refurbish the facility but these plans have been repeatedly delayed, cancelled, or altered, leading to public confusion and criticism of a failed mental health policy.
Then in May last year, Health Minister JoEtienne Abela announced plans to close the hospital and construct a state-of-the-art, 128-bed acute psychiatric unit at Mater Dei Hospital.
A tender for that massive project is yet to be awarded.
Partial disability benefit for mental health
On Monday Caruana also announced the introduction of a partial disability pension for people with bipolar disorder or depression with acute or psychotic features.
The benefit is aimed at integrating individuals with severe mental health conditions back into the workforce.
Starting next year, this new concept will allow eligible individuals to undertake some form of employment while still receiving a disability pension.
To qualify, a person must be medically certified as suffering from bipolar disorder or depression with acute or psychotic features.
Furthermore, the applicant must have been receiving regular treatment for their condition for a minimum of three years, and their illness must be formally certified by a consultant psychiatrist employed by the government.