Psychiatric hospitals have become prisons for inmates – Chief Psychiatrist

Nearly a hundred people are “imprisoned” in Ghana’s psychiatric hospitals because the courts that referred them to the facilities have not asked for them after treatment.

Most of these persons have been there for as long as 40-years even though they are no longer mentally ill.

At the Psychiatric hospital, a man accused of murdering his mother but diagnosed of schizophrenia and referred to the Accra Psychiatric hospital some 32 years ago is still at the hospital even though he has been treated and is capable of standing trial.

For now, he is at the hospital as a mentally ill patient with no right to go anywhere and his life just wasting away.

Speaking on the “Am Show” on JoyNews Television, Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Authority disclosed, “he murdered the mother, he was brought, he was obviously was unwell, we admitted him, we treated him, he is fine we have written reports upon reports 32 years now”.

Dr Akwasi Osei said, “probably, if he were to be sentenced he would have spent less than the 32 years he has been there at the hospital”.

He said most of the cases are sent to the psychiatric hospitals by the courts for examination but the courts refuse to come for them after the assessment is done.

“We asses and realize [that] they are mentally ill and cannot stand trial at that time, we have to admit and treat them, so we admit we treat for let’s say two weeks, one month or two months, they are well so you write a report back to the court that this person you brought is well please come for him to continue the case and they are not coming, it may be a murder case so we can’t discharge on our own,” Dr. Akwasi Osei revealed.