Refused to admit patients due to overload
At the end of September 2024, the People's Committee of Vinh Linh district sent a document to the Center for Comprehensive Social Protection 1 of Quang Tri province, requesting that this unit accept 2 mentally disabled subjects. On October 3, the center responded in writing that "capacity has been reached" so it cannot accept them.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Son - Deputy Director of the Center for Comprehensive Social Protection 1 of Quang Tri province said that with the initially designed facilities, this center only had 56 beds. However, the unit has used the treatment room at the infirmary and some rooms in the compulsory drug rehabilitation area to care for and nurture 108 psychiatric patients, including 92 male patients and 16 female patients.
In addition, the center does not have a separate care and nurturing area for female disabled people, so it has to use 3 medical examination rooms in the infirmary to care for 16 female patients (5-6 people/room), and the capacity has now been reached.
Therefore, since the end of May 2024, the General Social Protection Center 1 of Quang Tri province has sent a document to districts, towns, and cities announcing the temporary suspension of receiving mentally disabled people for care at this unit.
Can't invest in upgrading right away
The General Social Protection Center 1 of Quang Tri province is a public service unit under the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the province. This place has the function and task of treating, detoxifying, educating and rehabilitating behavior, personality, vocational training, production labor, reintegrating into the community for drug addicts and caring for and nurturing people with especially severe mental illness.
After a period of operation, the facilities at this center have degraded, such as the ceilings, walls, and roofing sheets in some areas have leaked, and the infrastructure is lacking, not enough to meet the number of subjects being cared for.
Mr. Le Nguyen Hong - Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Quang Tri province said that the Provincial Comprehensive Social Protection Center 1 needs to be upgraded and some of the remaining infrastructure items need to be completed. In addition, it needs to be repaired and supplemented to meet the function of receiving, treating and caring for drug addicts and mentally ill people throughout Quang Tri province; increasing the number of people admitted for drug addiction treatment and psychiatric treatment to about 300 - 350 people.
"The Department has developed a project to upgrade the facilities of the Comprehensive Social Protection Center 1 in Quang Tri province and is submitting it to higher authorities, but there is no capital to invest in the upgrade immediately," Mr. Le Nguyen Hong informed.
It is known that in Quang Tri province, there are many cases of mentally ill people and drug addicts who need to go to the center for care and nurturing. The center is overloaded and cannot accept more patients, causing many families to fall into difficult situations, and local authorities are putting pressure and disadvantages on the subjects.
