PESHAWAR, July 17: The NWFP government has decided to build a new mental hospital in Peshawar offering modern facilities at an estimated cost of Rs50m, according to sources.

About 60 kanals of land on the Ring Road near Hayatabad township has already been purchased at a cost of Rs10.3 million and the same would be taken over by the Works and Services Department, NWFP, in a couple of days.

The government mental hospital (GMH) — the lone hospital of its kind in the NWFP which is situated adjacent to the Central Prison, Peshawar — would be shifted to the new premises for which, said the sources, financial allocation had also been made in the new financial year’s annual development programme (ADP).

Construction work at the project site would be started soon, said a doctor at GMH, adding that the need to construct a fully-fledged mental hospital had been felt in view of the increasing number of patients suffering from mental ailments.

“We are trying our level best to prepare the plans for the new building, because the present premises of the hospital are very congested,” said a psychiatrist, who is part of the team preparing plan for the new hospital.

The new hospital would contain 200 beds and be built on modern lines. Different wards would be established to provide specialized treatment to the patients suffering from psychiatric disorders.

Psychotherapy department would cater to the patients needing counselling, besides the establishment of a social welfare section to work as a bridge between the patients’ relatives and the doctors. Forensic psychiatry department would be established to provide treatment to the under-trial prisoners, who are currently treated inside the jail.

Likewise, an investigative block would be constructed where the patients would be provided with ECT and recovery room, along with a waiting room. Besides, plans had also been made to build separate EEG and X-Ray departments and a fully-fledged pathology department.

“The rehabilitation centre to be built in the new hospital would be the first of its kind in the entire country. Drug addicts would be kept there for three months after completion of their treatment so that they could not switch over to narcotics again and, in the meanwhile, they would also be imparted with skills, such as gardening, carpentry etc., in order to make them useful citizens of society,” said a doctor.