Cole-Hamilton calls on SNP to respond to Skye House report

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today called on SNP Health Secretary Neil Gray to make an urgent statement to parliament following a report into the country’s largest psychiatric hospital for children, which found that “significant concerns” about patient treatment still existed months after being exposed by a BBC documentary.

In February 2025, a BBC investigation found that patients at Skye House, the largest psychiatric hospital for children in Scotland, had been routinely degraded and abused by nursing staff, who called them “disgusting”, “pathetic” and mocked their suicide attempts.

An unannounced inspection carried out six months later found that similar issues remained.

Scottish Liberal Democrats also uncovered that during the period covering the cruelty allegations, no formal inspections were ever carried out at the facility.

The party is now calling on the Scottish Health Secretary to make an urgent statement to parliament and explain what went wrong.

Scottish Liberal Democrat Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

“Some of Scotland’s most vulnerable children were abused, degraded and humiliated at the very place entrusted with their care. The latest revelations make me extremely concerned that it may still be happening.

“My party previously revealed that at the time the initial cruelty was reported, no formal inspections were ever carried out at Skye House- that is nothing short of an absolute scandal.

“The Scottish Government have done serious damage to the confidence of patients and families, while any action to rectify the rules around inspections has come too little, too late.

“The Health Secretary should do the right thing, make an urgent statement to parliament and explain why these concerns were still being raised months after they had been exposed. We also need to see an immediate review of the governance arrangements that oversee mental health services to ensure that the bodies involved have the correct powers to investigate and hold those responsible to account.”