Psychiatric hospital to be built in the north

At least one psychiatric hospital will be put up in one of the three northern regions to offer services for patients in that part of the country.

The new hospital will be built in Tamale, Wa or Bolgatanga, though it will not be as "big" as the ones in Accra, Ankaful or Pantang.

Speaking on TV3 on Friday, March 14, Dr. Akwasi Osei, the Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Board, said the new hospital will be of about 40 to 50 beds.

“I can’t promise exactly when, but that will be done,” Dr. Osei mentioned.

He observed that the north lacks professionals in mental health delivery.

“If we talk about clinical psychologists, I don’t think we have even a single one there, and psychiatric nurses still much fewer.”

He stated that a study recently conducted revealed that the north has a greater number of distressed people than their counterparts in the south.

“So if anybody is there and requires to be attended to [and] requires in-patient care, that practically means bringing the person, probably tying him, hire a whole vehicle and bring him down at a serious cost to the patient,” he explained.

Dr. Osei, who is the Medical Director at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, however, indicated that the Mental Health Board will soon introduce services like mobile health delivery to the north and other parts of the country.