Culture of cruelty at children’s hospital

Many patients are suicidal or intent on hurting themselves

She is one of several former patients who have described a culture of cruelty and abuse at the facility.

As an inpatient psychiatric hospital, the children at Skye House are in crisis. Often, these children have tried to take their own lives prior to being admitted. Many of them are suicidal or intent on hurting themselves.

As part of a BBC Disclosure investigation, these former patients explain how Skye House was like “hell” and more akin to a “prison kind of environment”. They talk about staff excessively medicating and sedating them. They recall staff calling them “pathetic”, “disgusting” and mocking their suicide attempts, telling them that they’d “need to try harder next time”. Some even talk about being made to clean up their own blood after a self-harm incident, or their own vomit after being fed through a nasogastric tube.

These were extremely vulnerable young people, no older than fourteen in some cases, who went to this hospital to get better. Instead, they describe how they were punished and traumatised. It is truly degrading, truly horrific.

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland visited Skye House no less than six times. The main issues reported in the BBC’s investigation, however, do not feature in any of the Commission’s published reports. So of course, the glaring question is why did the Commission not encounter or uncover any of these issues?

That is why I have called for the Health Secretary to make a statement to parliament to address these allegations of cruelty. I want the government to clarify why they were missed until now and take further questions from MSPs about the findings of the investigation. It’s so important that we give these issues the time and attention they deserve.

There has also been some discussion about the Mental Welfare Commission doing the best within the parameters they have, but that those parameters do not extend to taking sufficient action on this kind of behaviour.

If the Commission don’t have those powers, we need to give them those powers or ensure that they are calling in those who do. With this appalling catalogue of abuse having gone undetected for so long, our response needs to be one of urgency, especially when children could be facing similar experiences in other facilities like Skye House.

“We were just kids and we were just unwell, just like any other kids in hospital.” – it’s a piercingly clear reflection of the situation, and one which makes it so difficult to comprehend the cruelty these young people describe. Why was this happening to children, to children who needed help, and by those who were meant to be helping them?

Towards the end of the documentary, the young people reflect on what the future holds for them. Several talk about their ambitions to work in nursing and medicine, to help those who are struggling in the way they have. Distressing as it may be, it’s so important that we listen to their testimonies – and it’s time our government did too.

Alex Cole-Hamilton is the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and MSP for Edinburgh Western