Media release:Joint Unannounced Visit/Safe Delivery of Care Inspection Report: Glasgow Royal Hospital for Children, National Child Psychiatry Inpatient Unit
Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Mental Welfare Commission today (Thursday 29 January) published a report relating to a joint unannounced visit and inspection to the Glasgow Royal Hospital for Children, National Child Psychiatry Inpatient Unit – Ward 4, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which took place in August 2025.
This is the second published report of Scotland’s in-patient child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). We have been jointly visiting and inspecting the three regional services, as well as the national facility.
Our report highlights:
Areas of good practice
- Recommendations made by the Mental Welfare Commission following previous visits to Ward 4 have been addressed.
- Staff told us they enjoyed their roles, felt valued and worked in partnership to do the best for the young people in their care.
- Staff also acknowledged constructive managerial support and having the resources to enable them to deliver high quality, individualised care and treatment.
- This was confirmed by the experiences of young people and families. Their feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
- All observed interactions on Ward 4 were respectful, caring and person centred.
Areas for improvement
- A seclusion policy needs to be in place to underpin the use of the seclusion room on Ward 4.
- An advance statement sets out how a young person would prefer to be treated (or not treated) if they were to become unwell in the future and their ability to make decisions about their treatment is significantly impaired. Anyone has a right to make an advance statement, and we recommend that Ward 4 build the offer of an advance statement into practice when the person is well, as part of discharge planning.
- Our visit and inspection resulted in two recommendations and five requirements.
Speaking of the report, Robbie Pearson, Chief Executive of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and Julie Paterson, Chief Executive of the Mental Welfare Commission, said:
“During our joint visit to the National Child Psychiatry Inpatient Unit, our staff visited and inspected the unit environment, observed staff practice and interactions with patients, spoke with young people, relatives/visitors and ward staff, and accessed patients’ health records, monitoring reports, policies and procedures.
“Staff we spoke to said they felt supported to do their differing jobs to the best of their abilities.
“Feedback from young people, their families, advocacy staff and mental health officers about the quality of care, treatment and individualised support was overwhelmingly positive. Staff were praised for their inclusive approach, their specialist skills and their knowledge.
“An improvement action plan has been developed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and we expect the NHS board to address the improvement areas and prioritise the requirements to meet national standards.”
The full inspection report is available at: https://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.scot/publications/glasgow-royal-hospital-for-children-ward-4-safe-delivery-of-care-inspection-report-january-2026/
Ends
Notes to editor
In February of last year, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Mental Welfare Commission were commissioned by Scottish Government to undertake joint visits/inspections of Scotland’s in-patient child and adolescent mental health services to address national concerns about the care of young people in mental health units.
The National Children’s Psychiatric Unit is a small 6 bedded unit. The visit/inspection included two days on site at the unit.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s statutory role is to help improve the quality of health and care, provide information to the public about the quality of health and care services, monitor public involvement, and to evaluate and provide advice on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of medicines and health technologies.
The Mental Welfare Commission’s focus is on individuals and their experience of care and treatment. The Commission makes sure that the care and treatment of a person with a mental health condition (children, young people and adults) is in line with the principles of both the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003) and the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000.