Transformation and operation of a uniform psychiatric ward dedicated to COVID-19 patients during the pandemic

This article aims to describe the experience of transforming the Clinical Department of Adult, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the University Hospital in Krakow (CDACAP) into award designated by the Malopolska Voivod to provide the treatment for mentally ill adults from Malopolska Voivodship and adolescents from the south of Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss sequent stages of transformation, practical solutions and difficulties encountered in the process. 9 patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were hospitalized in the CDACAP between 09.04 and 29.05.2020, and 97 were tended to by consulting psychiatrists in the main building of the University Hospital in Krakow between 23.03 and 23.05.2020. In our experience, the Polish healthcare facilities, especially psychiatric and long-term care ones, were ill-equipped to operate during the pandemic crisis. This situation has brought out the nationwide lack of systemic solutions, particularly in the areas of child and adolescent psychiatry as well as forensic psychiatry. Functioning during the epidemic and confronting the risk of rapid deterioration in patients'condition clearly pointed out the necessity of creating psychiatric wards within the multispecialty hospitals. The requirement for ensuring separate spaces for patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection or with exclusion thereof should be considered in the psychiatric reform which assumes the regional responsibility of stationary wards.