Government to discharge more than half of Bellevue Hospital patients
The Health Ministry has revealed it is looking to discharge more than 400 of the 667 patients currently at the Bellevue Hospital in Kingston, which cares for the mentally ill.
However, the ministry is moving to transition an increasing number of Jamaicans living with mental illness from institutional care into community care. It said this is the best approach to rehabilitation.
Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton said, while 450 of the patients at Bellevue are ready for discharge, it needs the help of their families and community members to return them home. He promised that families will not be left to care for their mentally ill relatives on their own.
Dr. Tufton said the ministry is increasing the number of community mental health workers to ensure timely and effective home visits with persons who default from treatment. He explained that the intention is to reduce the number of emergencies and crisis calls once people are out of institutional care.
Already, 30 psychiatric nursing aides have been trained in the western region and another 47 are being trained. The ministry is also in the process of procuring 10 buses to serve the psychiatric outreach teams islandwide.
Awww bwoy…The health minister/ministry sounds like they need a stay at Bellevue. This is madness and won’t end nice. Families overseas can’t even manage their mentally ill relatives, so how them feel Jamaican families have the skills and resources to take on this burden?
This is madness
Betta brace unnu self peer foolinish ago gwan yah now.
As if enough mad ppl nuh deh a road already.
F**KRY F**KRY F**Y! Anuh just now dem a do dis. Me have uncle Weh did deh Bellevue from before me born, my a 33 now. They brought him back to my grandmother on her dying bed. They didn’t give a fck say me grandparents was 80 nuff and my grandma was suffering from cancer nope! They come once per month to give injections. Me uncle mad like shad, me fraid fi stay a di house when I visit.
The issue I have with this method is that the decision to take medication is now in the hands of the patients, and many of them refuse to take their medication once they are no longer in the institution. They claim they bringing normalcy back to the lives of the patient by reintegrating them into the society, but all that does is leave us out here to deal with ppl who should be in asylums.
I don’t see nothing wrong with that. If they have a loving family member to help care for them, that will be great.