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The psychiatric hospital “St. Ivan Rilski ”in Kurilo
Mentally ill people chained up and beaten with paramedics
They will close 30 of the houses by 2027.
Ill-treatment, understaffing, and complaints from mentally ill patients about being beaten and tied up. These are some of the results of the report of the Council of Europe’s Committee to Combat Torture after an inspection of Bulgarian psychiatric hospitals and welfare homes in August.
European experts have visited the state psychiatric hospitals “St. Ivan Rilski” in Kurilo, in the village of Tsarev Brod and the hospital in Byala, as well as the homes for the mentally retarded in Kudelin, Samuil and Govezhda. Patients complained of that paramedics mistreated them. They were rude to the sick, pushing, kicking and hitting them with sticks. Guards at the Kudelin and Govezhda houses carried sticks and occasionally beat patients. Experts also found the sticks in staff offices in Kudelin, Samuil and Govezhda.
Almost all the patients at Tsarev Brod hospital have been tied to their beds with metal chains at their wrists and ankles, secured with padlocks, for days. In addition, the medical institution had padded seat belts. And the people in the Kudelin household claim to have been in chains. These were found in the security office.
“Many probably believe that this attitude was eliminated by mental health centers in Europe more than a century ago. Such a shameful practice is completely unacceptable and can easily be considered inhumane and degrading. This must stop immediately,” the committee wrote.
Extremely insufficient staff have been identified in all three hospitals. The general conclusion is that the Ministry of Health does not sufficiently evaluate people’s mental health care.
“Already in early September, we contacted the Supreme Administrative Prosecutor’s Office about the inadmissible treatment and violence by staff in Kudelin, Govezhda and Samuil,” explained the Minister of Social Affairs, Denitsa Sacheva. The first two homes will be closed by February 2021 at the latest and people will be relocated to family-type accommodation centers. Samuil’s house will also be closed, Sacheva explained.
The Social Services Quality Agency together with the Public Prosecutor’s Office carried out inspections in 22 specialized institutions for people with mental disorders and mental retardation. “Between 2022 and 2027, a total of 30 institutions of this type will be closed,” said Sacheva.
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