Belle De Jong, the author behind “I Spent 8 Days In Mount Carmel: This Is What I Saw”, a SideStreet exclusive, has just launched a petition calling for reform at Mount Carmel Hospital & the modernisation of psychiatric care in Malta.
Her intimate and personal account published on our website www.sidestreetmalta.com took readers behind the closed doors of Malta's mental health hospital, Mt.Carmel, shocking many of them. The piece has been viewed over 35,000 times in the space of just 72 hours.
The petition 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.
“For all the praises the government sings about the top notch quality of Malta’s health care services, Mount Carmel hospital seems to be consistently side-lined and ignored, surrounding the hospital in stigma and undermining serious efforts made to improve mental health care.” the petition reads.
Speaking to SideStreet Belle said :
“I was so overwhelmed by the feedback and response I got from opening up about my experience. I realised I wasn’t alone in this and that so many others believe that something needs to be done about the state of mental health care in Malta, so I decided to start this petition”
You can sign the petition here