State Hospital rebuilt and reopened

Jun 26 2012

Scotland's high-security state hospital has been officially reopened following a rebuild.

The unit in Carstairs, Lanarkshire, has been upgraded with the aim to provide better care and treatment, as part of a national mental health policy. The hospital cares for men from Scotland and Northern Ireland who cannot be treated in other settings because of their dangerous, violent or criminal behaviour.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion and toured the new £90 million buildings with staff.

She said: "It is providing modern, state-of-the-art, secure mental health facilities and it's really important in Scotland that we have those. It gives patients the right environment to get the care and treatment they need and it gives staff who provide that care the right working environment.

"It's important that we have an integrated mental health system with a high-security facility along with medium and lower-security facilities as well, and we now have a service that means patients who need high-quality care can get that at the level that is appropriate for them."

The original Carstairs hospital was opened in 1948 with little fanfare but management at the new site wanted to celebrate the reopening of facilities.

Terry Currie, chair of the State Hospitals Board for Scotland, said: "In 1948 the Secretary of State of the day decided that there should be no formal opening. Over 60 years later it is entirely appropriate that we mark the next phase of the life of this hospital with today's official opening."

The hospital, which cares for 140 men, remained open during the construction of the four new hubs and 48 wards.

Chief executive Andreana Adamson said: "We had a programme of phased construction, one hub at a time, so we managed a planned and well-organised process. We had no security of safety issues during the construction.

"There are now more facilities with therapeutic interaction with patients and they will have more space and dignity. They will have their own ensuite bathrooms when beforehand we had two bathrooms for 26 men, so it was a more custodial approach rather than a therapeutic interaction."