GOVERNMENT MOVES DECISIVELY TO SEPARATE ADULTS AND CHILDREN RECEIVING INPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Government announced Thursday that it would be taking steps to move the adults receiving inpatient mental health care from the Anthony S. Eden Hospital (formerly George Town Hospital) to the Poinciana Rehabilitation Centre (PRC), allowing the creation of a dedicated mental health ward to cater exclusively for children.

This decision follows eight weeks of focused work led by the Honourable Katherine Ebanks-Wilks, Minister for Health, Environment and Sustainability, who made it clear from the outset that healthcare reform would be a priority of this administration. 

“Mental health has for too long been underfunded, undervalued, and fragmented across our system,” said Minister Ebanks-Wilks. “Once taking office, it quickly became evident to me that an urgent solution was needed to separate the adult and children receiving inpatient mental health services. My Ministry team and I have spent the last few weeks looking at a wide variety of options that would allow for a dedicated space for children at Anthony S. Eden Hospital. We deemed the current situation as unacceptable and every other interim option presented to us would take over year to implement. We have taken the decision to transfer the adult mental health inpatients to the underutilised PRC as this offers much a faster solution to creating separate and dedicated spaces for the two patient groups” said Minister Ebanks-Wilks.

The Honourable Isaac Rankine, Minister for Social Development and Innovation welcomes these changes “Creating a dedicated mental health ward at Anthony S. Eden Hospital for children will have an immediate positive impact by facilitating the right care, in safe spaces for children and adults respectively in a more appropriate way. Doing this helps both populations receive better and more tailored support.”

The Ministry had been planning to make this announcement at a later date. However, the Government has moved up the announcement in order to reassure the public that decisive steps are being taken in light of recent allegations of a disturbing incident involving a minor child receiving inpatient mental health care.

“This transition is just the first step in a broader reform agenda which includes improving regulatory oversight, preventative care and creating a cohesive and modern mental health system that meets the needs of every age group,” the Minister concluded.