Health Minister outlines plans for community mental health clinics

Health Minister Svatopluk Němeček has said around 30 new community mental health clinics should be created in the Czech Republic over the next two years at the cost of around 10 million crowns each, working with an operational budget of around 450 million crowns annually. The minister commented the situation in the health sector on public broadcaster Czech TV. Each of the centres, he said, would employ 20 staff members, including a full-time and part-time psychiatrist, psychologist, medical and social workers. The project, at least in the beginning, will be financed from European funds. Once community centres are up and running, the minister said, the transformation of large psychiatric hospitals could begin. He stressed that it was of utmost importance, as a result of changes, that no patient in need of treatment ended up on the street.

Author: Jan Velinger