Kaduna Psychiatric Hospital Takes Mental Healthcare to Patients’ Homes

The Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Kaduna, has launched a telepsychiatry service that will enable patients to access specialist mental healthcare from their homes.

The initiative is designed to reduce the financial and geographical difficulties faced by patients who travel long distances, including from other states and neighbouring countries, to receive psychiatric care.

The Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Aishatu Armaya’u, disclosed this on Wednesday in Kaduna during a strategic media engagement and the launch of the hospital’s new patient cards and other digital innovations.

Armaya’u said many patients and their relatives spent considerable amounts on transportation, accommodation and feeding whenever they travelled to the hospital for consultations and follow-up appointments.

She said the new platform would allow patients to remain in their communities while receiving specialist care from healthcare professionals at the hospital.

The medical director explained that the service would involve not only doctors but also nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, health information managers and administrators.

Under the system, patients would be able to schedule appointments, provide the required consent, make payments and receive consultations without travelling to the hospital for every appointment.

Armaya’u said the initiative was part of the hospital’s broader plan to decentralise mental healthcare and integrate psychiatric services into primary healthcare facilities across Kaduna State.

She explained that patients whose conditions could be managed within their communities would no longer need to make repeated journeys to the specialist hospital, allowing the facility to focus more on new patients and those requiring complex interventions.

The medical director said the hospital was working with relevant authorities to strengthen the incorporation of mental healthcare into primary healthcare facilities across the state.

She added that specialists at the hospital would also be able to support healthcare workers in other locations through telemedicine, reducing the need to refer every patient to the specialist facility.

According to her, the approach would ease pressure on the hospital while creating more opportunities for its professionals to focus on research, training and the management of complicated cases.

Armaya’u, however, stressed that telepsychiatry would not replace physical consultations in all cases, noting that patients requiring physical assessment would still need to visit the hospital.

She said the digital transformation was aimed at building a mental healthcare system that was more accessible, affordable and responsive to patients’ needs.

The hospital also launched new patient cards as part of its digital transformation programme, with the cards expected to improve patient identification, records management and continuity of care.