Commission publishes new local visit reports - 18 January 2023

The Mental Welfare Commission today publishes 15 new reports on NHS hospital wards and other facilities in Scotland.

Every year the Mental Welfare Commission visits around 100 wards and units for people with mental ill health, learning disability, dementia or related conditions in Scotland, talking to patients, relatives and staff, and examining records. A report is published after each visit.

Today’s reports cover 15 of those visits, highlighting positive findings, aspects of care and treatment where we think the service could do better and making recommendations for change where necessary.

Claire Lamza, executive director (nursing), Mental Welfare Commission, said:

“As in recent months, individuals and their relatives made a point of telling us how good the staff were despite significant pressures related to staff shortages.

“While today’s reports cover a wide range of wards and services, one subject that is raised in a number of them is the importance of having access to a range of activities. 

“Giving individuals the opportunity to take part in art or music therapy, to use a gym, or access to a garden or outdoors really does improve wellbeing and helps people recover. 

“Conversely, we found that where there were limited or no activities available, and individuals were spending nearly all of their time on wards, they clearly told us how easy it is to become bored and dispirited.

“A separate issue was the need for team meetings and care records to accurately reflect the care and treatment taking place. We quite often found these written records could have been more detailed and have shown better involvement with the individual and their families.”

The reports are for:

The Commission expects a response to each of its recommendations within three months of the reports being published.