A well-known actor says his “horrific” stay at Mount Carmel Hospital almost drove him to take his own life instead of treating him for his mental health problems. 

Toni Busuttil, the actor and comedian, known also as Toni tal-Van, opened up about the two-day stay at the mental health facility last summer and its “abysmal” state of disrepair.

Doctors transferred Busuttil to the Attard hospital from Mater Dei after an initial attempt to take his life. Busuttil says his stay at Mater Dei was helping him recover well but all went downhill as soon as he stepped into Mount Carmel.

“Shortly after I was admitted, I was given a cup of coffee. When I drank it, I realised the bottom of the cup was covered in a tartar layer of filth. Then I went to the bathroom and spotted a used condom in the toilet,” he recalled, still reeling from the experience.

“After that, I refused to eat, drink or shower for two whole days, until I could leave the hospital.”

Contrary to Mater Dei, patients at Mount Carmel were not separated according to their condition, he explained

“You had men and women, all mixed, and with all sorts of conditions, from patients with mood swings to schizophrenic patients in the same place,” he said.

Inside the “prison”, Busuttil said he was admitted to an old-fashioned dormitory, with iron beds, thin, “rock-hard” mattresses and a flat plastic cushion covered with a pillowcase.

You had patients with mood swings together with schizophrenic patients in the same place

The windows are barred with iron, nobody is allowed outdoors and there is no privacy or real attention to the patient’s needs.

“And while I was there, I was told my ward was one of the better ones,” he said.

All his belongings were taken and he had nothing left to do but spend the entire day “staring at the ceiling”.

Actor Toni Busuttil opened up about his two-day stay at Mount Carmel Hospital last summer.

“I spent all my first day crying and, by the second day, I was contemplating ways to distract the staff so I could kill myself. At Mater Dei, I felt like I was healing, until I stepped inside Mount Carmel, where my suicidal thoughts returned even more aggressively,” he said.

“Had I spent a few more days there, I’m sure I would have done it.”

Busuttil has previously spoken publicly about his struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts. He confessed to have tried to kill himself twice and, on at least one occasion, was close to death. On both occasions, he was saved by his friends and work colleagues.

He said that he found it extremely hard to cope with life when his beloved mother died, leading him to go through a dark period of depression.

“On my bed at Mount Carmel Hospital, I cried and prayed to my mother, asking her for courage and strength... it was driving me insane,” Busuttil said.

Admitting he still struggles with dark thoughts, he said Richmond Foundation helped him greatly to regain purpose and meaning in life.

“I will be forever grateful for their professional help. They saved me,” he said.

“And my experience at Mount Carmel was the reassurance I needed to take care of my mental health because now I will do anything to keep away from that place.”

Busuttil recalled that as he walked out and away from the hospital he felt like he had been reborn.

“I honestly feel bad for those who cannot leave. I wish I could go back, at least just to hang some pictures on the wall, to make the place look slightly better,” he said.

An aerial shot of the Attard hospital. The facility's poor state has attracted headlines for years. Photo: Health Ministry

“What I don’t understand is how we manage to find all the money we need to build roads, blocks of apartments and commercial centres but we have not yet found the money to refurbish this facility?”

The state-run mental hospital has been under fire for years with former patients describing it as “hell on earth” with communal showers reminiscent of concentration camps.

The Maltese Association of Psychiatry called for better standards across mental health services and said that anyone needing mental health care must receive it in a “safe, dignified place with the best standards”.

Times of Malta sent questions to the health ministry and requested permission to film the hospital building. Both have remained unanswered so far.

The government is planning to build a new mental health facility near Mater Dei Hospital by 2025.

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