Chaired by the CEO of the State Mental Health Authority, the committee is expected to submit its recommendations within a month.
Published Aug 17, 2025 | 9:43 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 17, 2025 | 9:43 AM
By framing basic standards, the state aims to ensure that mental-health patients receive care in environments that uphold their rights and dignity.
Synopsis: By putting in place norms for staffing, infrastructure, and basic facilities, the state aims to ensure that mental-health patients receive care in environments that uphold their rights and dignity. Once in force, the standards are expected to guide both public and private institutions, helping regulate a sector where quality of care has long remained uneven.
Tamil Nadu has constituted an expert committee to set minimum standards for various mental health facilities in the state.
The initiative to bring uniformity and accountability in mental health services follows the framing of standards for de-addiction centres. The panel will set standards for psychiatric hospitals, wards in general hospitals, units in medical colleges, and long-term care facilities.
Chaired by the CEO of the State Mental Health Authority, the committee is expected to submit its recommendations within a month. The move is based on the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, which requires states to define and enforce minimum service standards aligning with local conditions.
By putting in place norms for staffing, infrastructure, and basic facilities, the state aims to ensure that mental-health patients receive care in environments that uphold their rights and dignity. Once in force, the standards are expected to guide both public and private institutions, helping regulate a sector where quality of care has long remained uneven.
The move to set minimum standards for mental health establishments in Tamil Nadu is “highly significant,” said Dr Padmapriya Chandran, Senior Consultant, Psychiatry, at SIMS Hospital in Chennai.
Speaking to South First, she explained that such a step would help establish a baseline for the quality of care, which has so far been lacking in many facilities.
“Unless you provide a baseline for the quality of care, people will not know the standards,” she noted, adding that substandard de-addiction centres and psychiatric homes have been able to function even without proper licences.
Dr Padmapriya stated that patients’ rights often remain compromised in mental health care. Consent to treatment is frequently arbitrary, and this makes the establishment of basic standards even more urgent.
By fixing these requirements, she said, the state can ensure that patients receive treatment and support “without being unethical and without compromising on their rights.” She underlined that dignity must remain central to any mental health service.
She also highlighted safety as a critical aspect of mental health care. Patients often lack awareness of their illness or the need to comply with treatment, she explained.
“It becomes very unsafe not only for patients themselves, they can cause harm to themselves and also to others,” she warned. Ensuring safety, both to prevent self-harm and harm to others, can only be achieved if there are minimum operational requirements across all establishments.
In her view, it is the responsibility of the government to set these minimum standards and enforce them. Without such oversight, she said, the risks of neglect and unsafe practices increase. Establishments must be guided by a clear set of operational rules so that patients are both protected and given the best chance of recovery.
While acknowledging the importance of the initiative, Dr Padmapriya pointed out that implementing the standards will not be without challenges. “The biggest challenge is an insufficient number of psychiatrists and resources,” she said.
She added that essential psychiatric medicines, despite being critical, are often unavailable. Patients and their families are forced to travel long distances, sometimes even to district headquarters or medical colleges, only to find that medicines are out of stock. The high cost of treatment in private pharmacies further adds to their burden.
She described how the shortage of specialists also leads to patients being turned away at some hospitals. In certain institutions, she said, when there is no psychiatrist available, patients are refused treatment, even as outpatients.
This leaves families with no option but to seek care in the private sector, where costs can be prohibitive. Adding to the problem is stigma, with some providers dismissing patients as merely “behaving abnormally” rather than recognising their condition as an illness that requires professional attention.
Dr Padmapriya said reducing stigma and raising awareness are crucial to improving access to care. She pointed to Tamil Nadu’s Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam initiative, suggesting that psychiatric services should be integrated into the programme.
“How can we presume that rural people do not have schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression?” she asked. Uniform availability of services, especially in rural areas, is essential to ensure equality of access, she added.
Beyond setting standards, she said, the state must strengthen existing systems such as the district mental health programme. She noted that while mental health review boards are being set up, many are not functioning effectively. Registration of both establishments and professionals is critical, she stressed, as is regular inspection of facilities.
“Patients rarely know what kind of treatment they are receiving,” she said, pointing out that the absence of transparency and accountability creates space for exploitation. Establishments must be able to demonstrate how they function and what services they deliver to patients.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
