Julie Zahra Demands Maltese Media Given Regular Access To Mount Carmel To ‘Verify All Claims’
PN candidate Julie Zahra has formally requested regular access to Mount Carmel to be granted to the Maltese media.
As a number of questionable stories continue to emerge from the confines of the Attard mental health facility – both from professionals within the field and also patients that experienced the hospital first hand – Zahra called for more transparency.
“Without removing any of the professional workers’ merit within this field, the authorities need to be clearer with the public,” she said in a video uploaded to Facebook.
“Therefore, so that the public can rest their concerns once and for all, I’ve requested that the Executive Head of the hospital Mount Carmel releases an invite open for members of the media so that access is given,” she said.
“Free access needs to be given urgently, to each part of the hospital, so that while abiding with the full privacy of the patient, they can verify all the claims that have emerged from patients, professionals, and also the government itself.”
Zahra also spoke of the multitude of people that have personally gotten in touch with her to recount stories emerging from the walls of the hospital, from patients to family members of affected patients.
“Every person deserves a solid present and future full of health, both for themselves and those around them,” she said.
She also referred to multiple stories that have surfaced regarding the state of the hospital, saying as well that it has even led people seeking better mental health to contemplate suicide once within the confines of the hospital.
One of the articles mentioned was previously published by Lovin Malta, where a man coming from Sweden had his adventure turn sour when he found himself trapped within the walls of Mount Carmel.
“Even The Maltese Association of Psychiatry (MAP) also has described the hospital as ‘not fit for purpose’, so I think that all of these people must be saying something which is of truth,” she said.
One patient even went as far as describing the mental health hospital as “hellish”.
Zahra also promised that she will continue working hard in order to ensure safe and accessible mental health services for all.
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