site.btaUPDATED Number of Breaches Found in Mental Health Facilities in 2023 - Report

In 2023, a number of violations were found in treatment facilities for the mentally ill, according to data from the Executive Agency Medical Supervision, presented by its director Ivanka Dineva on Monday. She participated in a roundtable discussion on current problems of inpatient psychiatric care.

According to the data from the inspections, 15 violations were found by city prosecution offices and another 12 - by district prosecution offices. The most frequent violations were of the medical standard and the Health Act.

National Police inspector Biser Bozhichkov said that the institution's inspections had not found any harsh treatment of mentally ill people placed for treatment.

GERB MP Denitsa Sacheva pointed out that all these problems, which have been identified for decades, have been described in a number of reports. She said there should be legal changes initiated by the Parliament.

The lack of an information system and staff require maximum effort to change. Changes in legislation cannot be implemented if there is no administration in place, Sacheva noted.

She called for increased funding for treatment and food for those in psychiatric hospitals. Currently, those working there give personal funds to buy food for the sick, the MP said.

Bulgarian Helsinki Committee co-founder Krasimir Kanev stressed that the nature of psychiatric care in Bulgaria, and about medicine in general, remains an issue. The violations are mainly in the medical institutions where poor people are treated, he pointed out.

Psychiatric Hospital Sveti Ivan Rilski Director Tsveteslava Galabova said that the medical buildings in which these hospitals are located were not built as hospitals. “We are talking about warehouses, stables, etc. It is very important to close these hospitals. This is not how medicine is done in the 21st century. We cannot renovate these buildings,” she underlined.

There is no money in the health budget foreseen to increase funding for psychiatric care, Health Minister Hristo Hinkov said during the discussion.

He argued that deinstitutionalization is needed in this sector. Currently there are only 12 mental health centres in the whole country. One such centre carries out both acute and outpatient work. Hinkov said there is a risk that the Recovery and Resilience Plan measure to establish outpatient clinics will not be implemented. The problem is that there will be no one to work there, Hinkov noted, and said he has proposed that the money be redirected by opening 12 more centres similar to the existing ones.