I spent eight days in Mount Carmel - read about my experience here.

Mount Carmel Hospital is one of Malta's most archaic institutions. Very little has changed since the building originally opened its doors in 1861. Worse yet, the hospital has been allowed to degenerate into an appalling and subpar institution, rather than the psychiatric facility which is desperately needed in Malta.

For all the praises the government sings about the top notch quality of Malta’s health care services, Mount Carmel seems to be consistently side-lined and ignored, surrounding the hospital in stigma and undermining serious efforts made to improve mental health care.

I have therefore started this petition. It aims to spread awareness about the reality of the desperate situation at Mount Carmel and to pressure the government of Malta to enact change by allocating more of its budget towards psychiatric care. People suffering from mental health issues are in dire need of proper therapeutic, social and rehabilitative care.

As the world is moving away from taboo-inducing psychiatric hospitals, there are several solutions to be considered by policy-makers. Budget could be allocated towards the refurbishment of Mount Carmel, towards a Psychiatric Inpatient Department in Mater Dei, or community mental health centres.

It is crucial to create institutions that provide people suffering from mental health issues with the care they need and deserve, so they can truly heal.