Ombudsman: Overcrowded wards in the Center for Mental Health and Drug Addiction Prevention do not provide the opportunity to protect personal space, the wards are in need of repair, bathrooms are faulty and insufficient

According to the Public Defender, extremely overcrowded wards in the Mental Health and Drug Addiction Prevention Center do not provide the opportunity to protect personal space, the wards are in need of repair, bathrooms are defective and insufficient.

In addition, the therapeutic, infrastructural and sanitary-hygienic conditions in the institution do not meet the national or international standards and make it impossible to treat patients so that dignity is respected.

"On July 5, the Public Defender of Georgia Levan Ioseliani visited the Mental Health and Drug Addiction Prevention Center LLC and learned about the rights situation of persons with mental health problems in the institution.

The Public Defender inspected the physical environment of the institution's inpatient psychiatric departments, wards, dining areas, bathrooms, met and talked with patients, the center's administration and staff.

As a result of the visit, it was revealed as a special problem that the existing therapeutic, infrastructural and sanitary-hygienic conditions in the institution do not comply with national or international standards and make it impossible to treat patients so that dignity is respected.

Extremely overcrowded wards do not provide the possibility to protect personal space, the wards are in need of repair, bathrooms are faulty and insufficient (2-3 bathrooms for up to 60 people). Patients are not provided with all the hygiene products they need. The dining space is small, which does not allow patients to eat together.

The facility has a space for psycho-social rehabilitation, which is provided with computer equipment and appropriate resources for various rehabilitation activities, however, both the space and the resources are insufficient and cannot ensure the inclusion of all patients with appropriate needs in the rehabilitation activities.

The problem of patient safety was acutely highlighted (a few days ago, one patient jumped out of the window. Fortunately, the incident did not have fatal consequences). The lack of human and financial resources, which needs to be solved urgently, is another problem identified.

The Public Defender calls on the responsible state agencies to strengthen the measures to eliminate systemic problems in the field of mental health that have not been solved for years and to ensure an appropriate standard of human rights protection", - reads the information.