4500 lbs chicken disappear weekly from Psychiatric Hospital

… patients given bread, sausage daily
… investigation launched

Following Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence’s recent visit to the National Psychiatric Hospital at Fort Canje, East Berbice, an investigation has been launched into the delivery and utilisation of meat supplied to that institution.
Guyana Times understands that the Minister was reportedly informed that the 194 patients at this mental health facility do not receive meat in the food supplied them, but are given sausage and bread to eat daily.
This publication was told that, in some instances, four patients are forced to share one sausage, although – according to records – 4500 lbs of chicken are delivered to the facility on a regular basis.
This institution caters for persons with mental disorders, and it is imperative that they receive balanced meals with proper nutritional content. Sixty pounds of meat are slated for use with each meal served to inmates.
An official has told this publication that the Region Six Health Services Department has given contracts for the weekly supply of only 50 pounds of meat for the entire region. This meat is then shared between the New Amsterdam Hospital, the Skeldon Hospital and the National Psychiatric Hospital. According to the regional official, the meat is so inadequate that none is delivered to the National Psychiatric Hospital; and the shortage of meat is supplemented by sausage.
However, this publication was told that the records give a different account of the state of affairs at the National Psychiatric Hospital.

Proper diet
President of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research, Felice Jacka, in her publication, “A healthy diet is protective and an unhealthy diet is a risk factor for depression and anxiety,” said in August 2015 that “a very large body of evidence now exists that suggests diet is as important to mental health as it is to physical health.”
This newspaper was told that inmates at the psychiatric hospital can be seen in the town of New Amsterdam asking for money to buy food, or eating out of bins. Asked about the diet for the inmates, several sources close to that institution confirmed that it mostly consists of sausages, bread and pumpkin, with rice. Other vegetables are also cooked with sausages.
This publication was told that milk is also a scarce commodity in the kitchen of the National Psychiatric Hospital. The lack of supply and its consequence have been brought to the attention of the Director of Regional Health Services, Jevaughn Stephens.
Dire consequences reportedly attend an inadequate supply of nutrition to the inmates of a psychiatric facility. According to one source close to the institution, Stephens has been informed that patients are required to have a high intake of protein.
Several months ago, reports had surfaced that supplies of nutritious foods were not reaching the patients of the National Psychiatric Hospital. There were reports that cheese, chicken and fish were being pilfered from the kitchen. Security personnel were tasked with the responsibility of checking the bags of those who work in the kitchen as they exit the compound.