Dr. Gordon Donnir, Senior Psychiatric Specialist at the Psychiatry Department of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, has advocated the setting up of psychiatric units in all health facilities in the country to increase mental patient’s access to holistic medical care.

He explained that mental patients also suffered other medical diseases which needed the physician’s care and the current custodial stand-alone hospitals which were independent and far removed from facilities offering general medical care, is a huge disincentive to their well-being.

Added to this, he said, victims of certain non-communicable diseases such as Hypertension, Diabetes and end stage kidney problems as a reaction from the condition, may present symptoms that might look like psychiatric problems, these would need consultation-liaison services from the psychiatrist for a conclusive diagnosis.

Dr. Donnir, also the Head of Department (HOD) of the second largest referral Centre’s Psychiatric Department, was delivering a lecture on “Psychiatry Practice in the General Hospital Setting”, in Kumasi.

In line with this, he said more specialists, nurses and other medical staff need to receive further training to enable them offer inter-dependent optimal general care to match up with the expanding multidisciplinary and sub-disciplinary structures of mental health.

This was at a ceremony held in commemoration of the World Mental Health Day, which coincided with the out dooring of the ‘Alcoholic and Narcotic Anonymous’- a drug addiction rehabilitation group.

“The practice of psychiatry in a general hospital results in multidisciplinary practice of medicine, knowledge and skill transfer/sharing, destigmatization and most importantly mutual respect and understanding among disciplines”, he added