MENTAL HEALTH UNIT POW 2008

1. MENTAL HEALTH UNITPOW 2008 Mental Health Unit November 2007

2. OUTLINE • INTRODUCTION • PRIORITY AREAS FOR 2008 • SPECIFIC PLANS • EXPECTED RESULTS

3. INTRODUCTION Components of Mental Health Unit • institutional component comprising the three psychiatric hospitals at Accra, Pantang and Ankaful • community component psychiatric wings of some regional and district hospitals, and community psychiatric nursing

4. INTRODUCTION con. CHALLENGES • INADEQUATE HUMAN RESOURCES psychiatric nurse ratio is 1:44,000 people. The ratio for consultant psychiatrists is 1:2 million people • SHORTAGES OR NON-AVAILABILITY of both old and new generation Psychotropic drugs • INADEQUATE FUNDING

5. STATISTICS % INCREASEeg. Pantang Hospital 2005-6

6. THRUST FOR 2008 To improve the human resource capacity for Mental Health and ensure that all individuals especially the poor and the vulnerable groups have access to quality mental health care.

7. PRIORITY AREAS • Human Resource development • Improved quality and accessibility of care • Prevention • Mental Health Law • Research • Improved financing of psychiatric care

8. HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT • Additional training in “needy” areas child and adolescent psychiatry alcohol and drugs related disorders • Training and recruitment of additional psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists and Medical Assistants • Lobbying for establishing of Clinical Psychologist post in GHS • Collaborating with other organisations: e.g. Royal Collage of Psychiatrists, Challenges Worldwide, VSO, and others thru Health Link in training of psychiatric staff • TOT for ASSIST screening tool for alcohol/illicit substances/tobacco for primary care

9. IMPROVED QUALITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF CARE • Regular outreach programs • Focus on rehabilitation and prevention Hospital Vegetable Garden & Half-way Home (Pantang) Refurbishing & equipping the rehabilitation centre (Ankaful Hospital) Better equipped O.T. departments (3 hospitals) Protocol on safe repatriation of the patients to avoid hospitalisation (3 hospitals) Closer cooperation with patients families and CPN’s to prevent patient’s relapse (3 hospitals) Close cooperation with AA and NA groups in a community (3 hospitals)

10. IMPROVED QUALITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF CARE • Improved clinical care 1. better equipped hospital laboratory (3 hospitals) 2. establishing infirmary wing at Pantang Hospital for physically ill psychiatric patients on admission 3. increasing QA activities (3 hospitals) 4. establishing detoxification / rehabilitation unit for alcohol and substance abuse at Pantang Hospital 5. increase Dispensary service to 24 h at Accra Psychiatric Hospital 6. refurbishing & equipping the operating theatre (Ankaful Hospital) 7. improving “in & out” referral system 8. Establishing VCT and prevention of mother to child transmission services for HIV prevention at general O.P.D. andcounselling & screening services for psychiatric patients at risk (Pantang Hospital)

11. PREVENTION Intensify mental health education • Daily mental health topics at O.P.D. • Initiating Mental Health Clubs at schools in collaboration with Ministry of Education • Establishing Pantang Hospital Web site with health topic and interactive “psychiatrist blog” • Regular Open Days for public to visit (3 Hospitals) • Collaborating with traditional practitioners • Meetings with opinion leaders in a community • Scale up general O.P.D services rendered to general public therefore reducing stigma (Ankaful, Pantang)

12. MENTAL HEALTH LAW LOBBYING TO ENSURE PASSAGE OF THE NEW MENTAL HEALTH LAW

13. RESEARCH • Encouraging research and improve on staff research culture (3 Hospitals, CPN’s) • Ensure enclosure of psychiatric disorders in National Surveys

14. FUNDINGSOURCES OF FUNDING • GOVERNMENT mental health care is free by policy • The release of funds has been inadequate and irregular. This leads to a handicap in our ability to deliver • There is an urgent need to revise the position of psychiatric patient and psychiatric care in NHIS

15. FUNDING con. • Psychiatric community care at the regional and district levels is often perceived as being the drain on the resources • Psychiatric Hospitals are also limited in their ability to generate IGF; therefore a need for measures to help them to offer more of the payable services to reduce dependency.

16. FUNDINGProjected budget needs for the hospitals for 2008 in GH cedi

17. IMPROVED FINANCING OF PSYCHIATRIC CARE Exemption or NHIS????? Improving financing • Improving IGF by offering more services at general O.P.D (Ankaful, Pantang) • Improve mortuary services at Ankaful • Collaborating with institutions and organisations – fund rising (Friends of the Hospital group at Pantang)

18. EXPECTED RESULTS • Coverage of outreach services • Number of psychiatric nurses and psychiatrists trained/recruited • Functional Detoxification unit established for Pantang • O.T. departments refurbished • Rehabilitation centre (Ankaful) and Half way Home (Pantang) operational • Functional well equipped laboratories for all facilities • % increase in IGF

19. Thank you for your attention