Speech by the Parliamentary Ombudsmanduring the Thematic Lecture with the theme 'Mental health risks and concerns: strategic goals and best practices for prevention, treatment and care'
Published October 29, 2026
Speech by the Parliamentary Ombudsmanduring the Thematic Lecture with the theme 'Mental health risks and concerns: strategic goals and best practices for prevention, treatment and care'
Published October 29, 2026
Speech by the Parliamentary Ombudsman
Judge Joseph Zammit McKeon
during the Thematic Lecture organized by the
Office of the Ombudsman with the theme:
“Mental health risks and concerns: strategic goals and best practices for prevention, treatment and care”.
House of Representatives, Valletta
29th October 2026
Hon Mr. Speaker
Hon. MPs
Esteemed Guest Speakers
Ladies & Gentlemen
Good Morning
Thank you for your presence today.
For the public in general, mental health is a challenge and mental ill-health uncharted territory.
Protecting mental health should be the concern of all in a society which cares how we treat people when they are vulnerable, how readily do we acknowledge distress, how willing we are to listen and how prepared we are to act when listening is not enough.
Statistics risk concealing human reality. So, I shall not refer to numbers. However, behind a number is a person: somebody who may be struggling to get through an ordinary working day; a young person who feels that nobody understands; a senior citizen experiencing loneliness; a parent overwhelmed by responsibilities; a worker approaching burnout; a person living with anxiety or depression while on the outside appearing perfectly well; people passing through addictions of all sorts.
The scale of the challenge is considerable. Malta is no exception. The issue is not simply to treat mental illness but having in place a society capable of understanding the negative implications, recognising distress, responding early, providing appropriate treatment and accompanying people towards recovery.
Prevention before crisis
As a constitutional, independent and oversight body, the Ombudsman has to ask uncomfortable but necessary questions.
Are our schools environments where children feel safe enough to speak?
Are workplaces organised in ways that respect human limitations?
Do older people have meaningful opportunities to feel important?
Can people experiencing hardship receive assistance before despair takes over?
Are public services doing their job by being sufficiently accessible for people whose mental condition makes it difficult for them to navigate through red tape?
These questions require answers.
Possible answers may require changes in policy, not necessarily shockwaves but changes yes.
Prevention includes reducing avoidable risks, strengthening protective factors and intervening before difficulties become crises.
Children and young people should be thought emotional literacy.
Parents and teachers given support to distinguish ordinary difficulties from warning signs requiring further attention.
Workplaces deserve particular attention. Employment can give people purpose, dignity, economic security and social connection. But unhealthy working conditions can produce precisely the opposite effect. Excessive workloads, bullying, discrimination, insecurity and lack of control can all become psychosocial risks.
Prevention must equally address social isolation: not a trivial inconvenience; but a serious threat to well-being.
Make it easier to speak and ensure that somebody listens
Encouraging people to speak creates a corresponding responsibility: somebody must listen.
Listening is not the exclusive competence of the psychiatrist, with all due respect to the medical specialists.
Good listening requires patience, attention, respect and the willingness to understand including with an open mind and heart another person's distress.
But listening cannot become an excuse to keep back from acting.
To my mind, compassion without a pathway to action is a half-baked measure, important but not enough.
Early and accessible intervention
Primary health care has an important role. So do community-based services.
A person should not be compelled to reach the most specialised level of the system before the system reaches the person.
Community care should be enabled to help people remain connected with family, employment and ordinary social life.
Accessibility also means affordability, reasonable waiting times and services that people can actually manage.
The system must be designed around the person, rather than requiring the person to adapt to the convenience and/or exigencies and/or scale of priorities of the system.
Treating the person
Mental-health policy must be person-centred, rights-based and directed towards recovery-oriented care.
Recovery should enable a person to regain autonomy, rebuild relationships, return to education or employment, manage symptoms and recover hope and purpose.
Mental health and human dignity
Vulnerability cannot be detached from dignity. Mental difficulties should not rule out the observance of rights.
Protection against degrading treatment, access to appropriate care, and freedom from discrimination must therefore remain at the centre of mental-health services.
Building a culture of care
Mental-health systems will be judged not only by the quality of hospital care, budgets or number of specialists, important though these are.
They will also be judged by what happens before a hospital is needed and after a patient leaves.
Policies devised exclusively about people, without listening to them, risk misunderstanding what people actually need.
Families and carers require support too.
Caring for somebody experiencing serious mental-ill health can involve enormous emotional and practical demands. Supporting the carer is frequently part of supporting the person receiving care.
From awareness to responsibility
Public awareness has opened debate like the one of today which previous generations avoided.
But awareness cannot be the final destination.
We have to move on from awareness to caring behaviour and responsibility.
