Basseterre, St. Kitts, August 03, 2017 (SKNIS): The Honourable Senator Wendy Phipps, Minister of State with responsibility for Health disclosed at the Prime Minister’s Monthly Press Conference on August 02 that there are some telecommunications, security and human resource challenges that have delayed the opening of the Mental Health Day Treatment Center located at Limekiln Commercial Development that was slated to open earlier this year.
“Unfortunately there were a number of telecommunications and security challenges,” said Senator Phipps, as she explained that a security system has been installed into the facility, however, they have not yet been able to properly install the telecommunication lines. She said that the telecommunication lines have introduced some difficulty in the logistics of running the lines to connect to the Psychiatric Facilities at the Joseph Nathaniel France General Hospital.
She noted that the availability of human resources is also an issue for the ministry as there is only four mental health certified nurses on the island, which creates a limited number of trained personnel that are fit to deal with the persons that will be at the centre. She also stated that these nurses will have shared responsibilities with the psychiatric units in St. Kitts and in Nevis making their availability very limited.
Senator Phipps noted that the facility is designed for rehabilitation and allow persons to “graduate from the system and resume a place in their normal daily lives.” She also noted that the ministry hopes to overcome most of the challenges it is facing to get back on track towards the opening of the clinic.
