The Lanzarote Health Services Management, attached to the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, continues to promote the improvement of mental health care. The incorporation of seven new specialists to the Psychiatry service at the Doctor José Molina Orosa University Hospital in recent years has made it possible to strengthen care capacity, significantly increase the number of consultations attended, and reduce hospital admissions for mental disorders.
The service currently has fourteen psychiatrists - double the number before the pandemic - and seven clinical psychologists who, along with nursing staff, occupational therapists, social workers, and other professionals, have contributed to strengthening care activities, achieving an increase in consultations close to 27% up to October.
This reinforcement has also favored a 19% reduction in hospital admissions for mental health reasons in the same period.
Continued increase in healthcare activity
So far this year, psychiatrists have handled 11,082 consultations: 7,389 for adults and 3,693 for child and adolescent mental health. These figures represent an increase in activity of close to 22% compared to the same period last year, when 9,121 consultations were recorded.
Regarding Clinical Psychology, a total of 6,114 consultations have been attended as of October 2025, the majority, 4,450, directed at adults, while psychological care for the child and adolescent population registered 1,664 consultations, data that also exceed those recorded in 2024, when 5,961 consultations were attended in the same period.
Social workers' interventions have reached 4,200 actions as of October, while Occupational Therapy professionals have carried out 1,500 interventions, of which 1,002 correspond to interventions with adults and 498 with the child and adolescent population. On the other hand, Nursing consultations and procedures in Psychiatry also stand out, with 4,145 sessions in the first ten months of the year.
Fewer hospital admissions
Along with the reinforcement of care and the strengthening of community resources, there has been a notable decrease in hospital admissions for mental health reasons of almost 20%, going from 215 admissions the previous year to 174 recorded up to October.
The Brief Inpatient Unit, equipped with 12 beds, offers intensive and specialized care to patients with acute mental disorders, ensuring an approach focused on humanization, safety, and clinical stabilization
Resources for Close Community Care
In addition to the Valterra and Tías Mental Health units, which provide ongoing outpatient care, the service has specific resources such as the Psychosocial Rehabilitation unit for Severe Mental Disorder ‘Dr. Julio Santiago Obeso’, located in Tahíche. This unit coordinates with professionals from the island's Cabildo to promote the autonomy and social integration of affected individuals
The Mental Health service also develops programs such as the Assertive Community Treatment Team, which provides comprehensive and personalized care in the usual environment of people with severe mental disorders, helping those most in need to maintain stability, safety, and continuity in their treatment, for those who have difficulties with adherence in order to facilitate their recovery.
Another of the service's teams develops the First Psychotic Episode Program, a key device for rapid intervention when a person experiences their first psychotic episode, reducing the emotional, social, and work impact this can generate.
Likewise, the Geriatrics service team is developing a program for the Care of Severe Mental Disorders, in collaboration with the El Cribo Mental Health Association, to ensure continuity of care and coordination between services
The Early Intervention Unit
It is worth highlighting the growth in consultations at the Early Intervention Unit, which has quadrupled its activity compared to the previous year. This unit works with boys and girls with neurodevelopmental disorders or at risk of alterations.
The multidisciplinary team at UAT has handled 2,121 consultations up to October, of which 609 correspond to occupational therapy, 552 are speech therapy, 548 are sessions with physiotherapists, and 412 are consultations handled by psychology professionals
