The National Psychiatric Hospital (NPH), Guyana’s only psychiatric institution, is said to be full and cannot accept any more patients.
Senior sources from the Public Health Ministry’s Mental Health Unit told Guyana Times that patients with chronic mental illnesses who require institutionalised care and monitoring were unable to access the critical treatment since the NPH was currently filled to capacity.
The National Psychiatric Hospital
In 2016, then Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton signalled his intention to reconstruct the institution, since it was plagued by non-functional buildings. However, the Ministry is yet to begin any rehabilitative or reconstruction works on the institution.
Several governmental and health organisations have condemned the state of the NPH and the delivery of mental health services in Guyana. However, the source noted that since the implementation of the National Mental Health Action Plan 2015-2020, there has been a drastic improvement in the delivery of mental health care in Guyana.
The Mental Health Action Plan includes the delivery of mental health care at the community level and the engagement of all stakeholders.
A source from the Georgetown Psychiatric Clinic noted that there was an increase in the number of young patients accessing mental health care, but noted that there was a need for greater sensitisation and training as it related to the detection of mental health issues. The source added that since the Mental Health Action Plan was developed, the Clinic has been keeping records of all the cases of suicide and suicide attempts to determine the state of mental health in Guyana. Currently, there are five psychiatrists in Guyana’s public healthcare systems and they have clinics throughout the country. They have also embarked on the sensitisation campaigns and plans to go into schools to raise awareness and eradicate the stigma attached to mental health issues.
Efforts to contact the Health Ministers, Volda Lawrence and Dr Karen Cummings, along with Director of the Mental Health Unit, Dr Util Richmond-Thomas were unsuccessful.
