MPs raise concerns over inappropriate admissions at Athalassa psychiatric hospital
Lawmakers called for stronger community mental health services, legislative changes and a national 24-hour support hotline.
Nicosia, Cyprus. People who should not be hospitalised in psychiatric hospitals are currently receiving inpatient treatment at Athalassa psychiatric hospital, House health committee chairwoman Savia Orphanidou said on Thursday.
She cited a lack of protocols and insufficient community structures, while Akel MP Marina Nikolaou raised concerns about underfunding, understaffing and overcrowding in mental health services.
Calls for community structures
Orphanidou told the committee that children and adults with autism, people with eating disorders and homeless people are among those being hospitalised despite not requiring psychiatric hospital care under ordinary circumstances.
She called for a different structure for treating these individuals both within and outside the hospital, including the development of community-based services.
Orphanidou said existing legislation should be amended and that she expects changes to laws governing hospitalisation decrees, psychiatric hospitalisation, community care and the creation of relevant structures by the end of the year.
Support and prevention measures
She also referred to the stigma faced by people after leaving psychiatric hospitals, as well as the need to support families affected by mental illness and strengthen prevention efforts.
Orphanidou called for psychologists to be present in schools and for the establishment of a national 24-hour hotline for people experiencing mental illness.
She said the government had informed her that the hotline could be implemented as early as the first quarter of next year.
Concerns over hospital capacity
Nikolaou described a prolonged situation of underfunding, understaffing, overloading and abandonment of mental health services.
She said Athalassa psychiatric hospital had been operating at its limits for some time, citing overcrowding, insufficient beds, delays in developing community structures and an inability to rehabilitate and reintegrate patients.
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