Philipsburg: ---State Secretary of Health, Mr. Patrick Illidge, made a courtesy visit to the Mental Health Foundation on Monday, October 26. Mr. Illidge met with Ms. Eileen Healy, Director of the Mental Health Foundation who introduced him to Ms. Onika Phillips, administrative Assistant; Shineca Carty, Registered Nurse; Aisheline Maduro, Psychologist, and other staff. Ms. Healy gave Mr. Illidge a tour of the outpatient Day Care facility, which included the handicraft, soap-making and candle-making rooms. The State Secretary expressed how delighted he was to see the industriousness of the patients of the Mental Health Foundation. Ms. Healy also took the opportunity to present the State Secretary of Health with a copy of the Ondernemingplan “Stop Exclusion...Dare to Care” 2004, the Multi Annual Plan 2010 to 2012, the Terms of Reference for the Guided Living Project for Psychiatric Care, the MHF Social Year Report 2009, and the MHF Annual Reports of 2006 to 2008. The main objective of the MHF is to encourage the cure of the psychiatric patient, but if there is evidence that cure is not a realistic goal, to at least reduce suffering. The MHF has treated 400 patients, has Day Care Services with 25 clients, helped 20 families at home with their psychiatric relatives, and manages 50 crisis patients per year. The State Secretary noted that he was very impressed with the efforts being made to ensure accountability, continuity, and consistency at the MHF.
Ms Healy also raised various issues as they relate to bottlenecks and shortcomings the institution faced, such as: the treatment meted out to mental care patients at other institutions, the ongoing concerns about the lack of a residential facility for Psychiatric illness, the lack of education for health care workers in mental health, and the lack of professionals who are trained in knowledge of mental health equipment purchasing. Ms Healy also stated that she believes that the role of government in health care should be that of a regulatory nature, providing legislation and control and not the execution of service delivery. The State Secretary concurred and reiterated his concern about the lack of communication, coordination, and collaboration between health care providers and institutions. He also stressed that all health-care stakeholders should continue to consult and collaborate with each other to provide optimum quality care services to the island.
The State Secretary congratulated the center for the great work that they have done over the last 3 years and thanked the Ms. Healy and her team for accommodating him and facilitating such an informative orientation. He expressed that he was very impressed with the quality of service delivery at the MHF. He expressed his willingness to assist MHF wherever he can and to seek dialogue with other stakeholders to make the residential facility a reality. Finally, Mr. Illidge promised to remain in close contact with MHF and to follow-up on its progress.