Adrian Delia Calls Out Health Minister’s Mount Carmel Remarks

Adrian Delia has spoken out – not to announce whether he will remain in the PN leadership race or not, but to criticise Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela for his recent comments about a particular ward in Mount Carmel.
After the mental health commissioner warned that a ward housing people with social problems is “not fit for purpose”, Abela said these people are are free to leave whenever they want.
Delia, as Shadow Health Minister, and PN MP Ian Vassallo Hagi, issued a statement to call out Abela for his “insensitive” comments.
“The minister’s statement is nothing but a declaration that the government no longer cares about the mental health sector,” they said.
“Rather than pledging to do everything necessary to ensure the ward is up to scratch, the minister said that people can leave whenever they want. This shows how arrogant the government is, and that it only finds money for its own conveniences.”
“The government has spent years taking people for a ride when it comes to mental health, and it has broken every promise it has made about a new hospital and improvement in the current institutions.”
“Rather than battling the stigma, the government is using language that further burdens the most vulnerable.”
They said that people who don’t require psychiatric care shouldn’t be housed at Mount Carmel, but rather in more decent and modern accommodation.