The Accra Psychiatric Hospital is to collaborate with the Kaduna Neuro Psychiatric Hospital in Nigeria to expose the staff of the former hospital to new techniques of providing proper mental health care.
The relationship, which is to start by June this year, will kick-start with five staff of the hospital.
The Chief Psychiatrist, Dr Akwasi Osei, told the Daily Graphic that the relationship would enable the beneficiaries to share knowledge and experience to enrich their expertise in the administration of mental health at the hospital.
He added that the second batch of cured inmates of the hospital were sent home on Wednesday as part of the exercise to decongest the hospital.
Dr Osei said the second batch, numbering 30, was made up of 25 males and five females.
He said the Kaduna Neuro Psychiatric Hospital had a doctor-patient ratio of 20:80 and described the state of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital as “an apology of a mental health institution” because of its low staff strength and serious congestion.
When the Daily Graphic visited the Male Special Ward which treats forensic cases, it realised that there were 232 patients and only four members of staff attending to them.
Their living conditions could be compared to those of slaves at the Elmina or the Cape Coast Castle before their shipment abroad.
Dr Osei, however, said the last operation had been a success, adding that 21 patients had been sent back to their families, two inmates could not recognise their houses as a result of the vast development in their areas, while seven others were taken by their family members at the hospital.
The two patients who could not recognise their houses would be taken to the Department of Social Welfare to locate their family members, he noted.
He said community nurses in the respective communities had been tasked to regularly check on the patients.
Dr Osei said the exercise would help the patients to reintegrate into society, saying, “The longer they remain in the hospital, the more difficult it becomes for them to reintegrate into society.”
He said similar exercises the hospital had embarked on in the past involving 90 cured inmates had been successful except for three patients, one of whom could not trace his family.
“Not all patients will be accepted by their relatives because of stigmatisation but at least a chunk of them will be sent home to their relatives and this will decongest the hospital,” he stated.
The relationship, which is to start by June this year, will kick-start with five staff of the hospital.
The Chief Psychiatrist, Dr Akwasi Osei, told the Daily Graphic that the relationship would enable the beneficiaries to share knowledge and experience to enrich their expertise in the administration of mental health at the hospital.
He added that the second batch of cured inmates of the hospital were sent home on Wednesday as part of the exercise to decongest the hospital.
Dr Osei said the second batch, numbering 30, was made up of 25 males and five females.
He said the Kaduna Neuro Psychiatric Hospital had a doctor-patient ratio of 20:80 and described the state of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital as “an apology of a mental health institution” because of its low staff strength and serious congestion.
When the Daily Graphic visited the Male Special Ward which treats forensic cases, it realised that there were 232 patients and only four members of staff attending to them.
Their living conditions could be compared to those of slaves at the Elmina or the Cape Coast Castle before their shipment abroad.
Dr Osei, however, said the last operation had been a success, adding that 21 patients had been sent back to their families, two inmates could not recognise their houses as a result of the vast development in their areas, while seven others were taken by their family members at the hospital.
The two patients who could not recognise their houses would be taken to the Department of Social Welfare to locate their family members, he noted.
He said community nurses in the respective communities had been tasked to regularly check on the patients.
Dr Osei said the exercise would help the patients to reintegrate into society, saying, “The longer they remain in the hospital, the more difficult it becomes for them to reintegrate into society.”
He said similar exercises the hospital had embarked on in the past involving 90 cured inmates had been successful except for three patients, one of whom could not trace his family.
“Not all patients will be accepted by their relatives because of stigmatisation but at least a chunk of them will be sent home to their relatives and this will decongest the hospital,” he stated.
