Bhopal: No district in the state has Mental Health Review Board to look into the welfare and treatment plan of the mentally ill patients. As per Mental Healthcare Act 2017, mentally ailing person has to be brought before the board comprising three psychiatrists and a magistrate before the initiation of any medical treatment.
With negligible number of psychiatrists and mental healthcare specialists in state, how would government implement the Act is what bothering the medical experts here. The law also seems to paint caretakers and physicians as adversaries of the patient as the line of treatment cannot be started unless the board examines him, feel the experts.
It is mandatory for government to constitute Central Mental Health Authority at national level, State Mental Health Authority in every state and a Mental Health Review Board at district level. As per the norm, all mental health practitioners–clinical psychologists, mental health nurses, and psychiatric social workers– and every mental health institute have to be registered with this authority.
However, the government is yet to constitute these boards – the basic pillars central to the success of the Act – at the state as well as district level. Concerned experts say that families in India take care of people with mental health issues, however, the government is failing to do their bit. When laws, boards come into effect — with judicial clauses in everything — things do not remain the same. We fear that in coming time there would be more untreated mental health patients, many abandoned by their family. Authority concerned has to work hard at the implementation of this law, said the experts.
Civil surgeon Dr IK Chug said none of the district hospital in state has any psychiatrist. So, how is it possible to constitute a mental health care board when there are no required numbers of psychiatrists in the state? Secondly, a psychiatrist visits hospital on rotation basis and at the weekly meeting patients and their families mostly come seeking medical certificates, which are used for train journey and other purposes.
City-based noted Psychiatrist Dr Rum Bhattacharya said, “Mental Healthcare Act provides for the constitution of the Mental Health Board. A physician (psychiatrist) can prescribe any medicine only on the recommendation of the board. Such a provision is totally rubbish as the doctor will have to wait for board’s clearance before administering any medicine to patient. The entire process is time consuming and all this while patient continues to suffer.”
Psychiatrist Dr Rajiv Jain said, “Treatment of mentally ill patients is a lengthy process as Mental Health Act entails constitution of mental health care board. In Madhya Pradesh, there is no such board in existence. We cannot prescribe even medicine to mentally ill person. So my question is how can we bring in laws that require massive outreach programmes requiring highly evolved State-sponsored social security systems in place to have this new Act implemented?”
