Updated 3.00pm with MHA reaction below.
A Mount Carmel Hospital patient is in intensive care after he escaped from the psychiatric facility on Monday and was later found in Valletta with multiple injuries.
Several sources told Times of Malta the man managed to walk out of the hospital unnoticed, and made his way to Valletta, where he was later found with several injuries to his ribs and spine.
The victim, a 37-year-old from Mosta, is being treated in intensive care at Mater Dei Hospital and the authorities are investigating the case.
A spokesperson for Mount Carmel Hospital said the patient was allowed to walk around hospital grounds unattended. His absence from Mount Carmel Hospital is the subject of police and internal investigations.
It is understood the patient was allowed out of his ward, but not out of hospital grounds.
A friend of the patient, who spoke to Times of Malta on condition of anonymity, said the victim had already attempted to take his life twice since February, when he was first admitted to the mental health hospital.
The friend said whenever he was “in a good place” he would be allowed to leave the hospital supervised by a friend or family member, but even then, they would have to check him out and then back in when they returned.
The man’s friends realised something was wrong when they called the hospital on Monday, asking to see how he was doing. They were concerned his condition had “regressed” over the past week.
“When we called the hospital, they told us he was strolling around the garden,” he said.
He said that when the patient’s father went to visit him shortly afterwards, his son was gone.
“We want to understand how he managed to escape when he was meant to be under supervision. Will the authorities be opening an inquiry into this?”
The situation inside Mount Carmel Hospital has repeatedly come under scrutiny.
Earlier this year, the Commissioner for the Rights of Persons with Mental Disorders concluded the male ward is “not fit for purpose”.
The ward was initially flagged by Andrew Azzopardi when he sent a formal complaint to the commissioner about the “critical violations” with the ward back in May.
The government plans to close the hospital by 2028 and relocate all psychiatric care to a new unit at Mater Dei Hospital.
A study published in April found that most drug users who are admitted to the psychiatric hospital are seeking help for social problems such as homelessness and unemployment.
PN: Government has driven mental health care into total collapse
In a reaction, the Nationalist Party observed that the case involving the patient who had walked out of Mt Carmel Hospital followed media reports that the government had halted the process for new mental health care facilities at Mater Dei Hospital.
“It is clear we are witnessing yet another total collapse, this time in the mental health care system,” the party said. “And the only party responsible is the government. It is useless for Robert Abela and his ministers to pose in front of cameras and recite empty, flowery words, or to show up at awareness events about mental health care, when the same government that is supposedly meant to improve services seems hell-bent on continuing to run them into the ground.”
It observed that in recent years, Malta had seen a sharp rise in the number of people seeking help for their mental health. Yet the services offered by the government remained stuck in the past. Worse still, the promise of a new mental health hospital had now been completely abandoned, and the planned wards at Mater Dei to replace the old hospital were facing one obstacle after another.
Adrian Delia, shadow minister for health, and Ian Vassallo, shadow minister for primary care and mental health, said a new Nationalist government would give mental health care the priority it truly deserved.
Mental Health Association Malta calls for urgent inquiry
The Mental Health Association Malta (MHA) expressed its serious concern and disappointment at the situation and called for an independent and transparent investigation into how the incident happened.
It said this is not an isolated event but part of a “troubling pattern of systemic negligence” and how repeated warnings regarding patient safety, staff shortages and poor infrastructure have been ignored.
“These incidents are not simply unfortunate- they are preventable. They reveal a failure to uphold basic responsibilities in ensuring the well-being of people in care.”
“MHA has consistently maintained that the safety of patients at Mount Carmel Hospital is not just a priority- it is a right. Every person in care deserves the highest standard of treatment and support,” the statement read.
“It is unacceptable that such a serious incident could occur in a facility responsible for supporting people with mental health needs. The failure to supervise, monitor, and respond appropriately is not the fault of individual staff members working under pressure- but of the system that places them in these unsustainable conditions.”
MHA also called for urgent investment to improve staffing, supervision and basic infrastructure to ensure patient safety across all psychiatric wards.
“The Mental Health Association Malta also urges the authorities to stop treating each incident as an isolated case and instead respond to the clear pattern of systemic failings that have long been evident. Mental health care cannot continue to operate in emergency mode. We need long-term, rights-driven solutions that uphold dignity, safety, and accountability.”