Vulnerable patient at Carstairs left with fractured ankle

A nursing assistant at Scotland’s state hospital has been suspended pending an investigation after a long-term patient suffered a fractured ankle.

Sources said the male staff member was told he would not be allowed back to work at Carstairs, which houses some of Scotland’s most dangerous psychiatric patients, until a full investigation has been carried out.

1919 understands the incident was reported in July after the patient, who has been in the South Lanarkshire hospital for over 10 years, complained about his ankle being sore.

He was later discovered to have an ankle fracture, according to insiders, and levelled accusations at the nursing assistant.

The patient has been treated at hospital and is understood to be recuperating back at Carstairs.

A source told 1919: “The patient has been here a long time. He is not Scottish but is one of the more docile patients in the hospital. He is in the learning disability ward which has previously had a high-profile incident of a patient breaking his arm after being restrained.

“He has learning difficulties and like a lot of the patients his behaviour, at times, can be a challenge for the staff.”

The source added: “The staff are highly trained to deal with that kind of thing and really no patient should be suffering any kind of serious injury during an altercation or when they’re needing calmed down and restrained. An ankle fracture is quite serious. “However, apart from the patient, no-one is really speaking about it due to the seriousness of the allegations and the shock of it. The person suspended is highly regarded within the hospital community so it’s a sad state of affairs for both staff and patients at the moment.”

“It’s a sad state of affairs for both staff and patients at the moment”

The source said the patient’s family are “quite rightly demanding answers as to how he sustained the injury”.

A spokesperson for The State Hospital said they do not discuss staff or patients.

They said: “Due to data protection and confidentiality regulations, we cannot disclose information about specific patients or staff, whether past or present.

“When concerns about staff conduct arise, we investigate them thoroughly in accordance with our management of employee conduct policy.

“Such investigations are confidential and should not be publicly discussed.”

The hospital provides care and treatment for high security patients from Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Carstairs has capacity for 144 male patients – around three-quarters are ‘restricted’ patients under the jurisdiction of Scottish ministers. This means they are criminally insane and require high-security care.

Earlier this year 1919 revealed the Scottish Government plans to introduce a new health board dedicated solely to the care of patients within high, medium and low secure units.

Under current arrangements Carstairs has its own board, while other units fall under the management of geographical health boards.

1919 also revealed that the hospital has a high staff to patient ratio – more than any other health board in the country.

The hospital has been suffering from a shortage of patients and earlier this year we revealed almost 50 beds were lying empty.

It reinforced calls for the hospital to allow female psychiatric patients to have access to the facilities instead of being sent hundreds of miles away to England for treatment.

Maree Todd, the minister for mental wellbeing, has met health chiefs for talks on the proposals to set up a woman’s unit at Carstairs.