PLANS to overhaul services at Scotland's state hospital will today come a step closer, in a move that will transfer female patients to service providers across Scotland and cut the overall number of beds.
Facilities at Carstairs will be demolished and replaced over the next four years, a process which will bring the total number of high-secure patients there down from 240 to 140, all of whom will be male.
A dozen beds will be for men with learning difficulties.
The plans outlining the physical redevelopment of the hospital and its surrounding buildings are expected to be ratified by South Lanarkshire Council's Planning Committee today.
As part of the changes, female patients, who constitute around 6% of the inpatient population at the hospital, will be decamped around the country's regional network of provision totalling around 30 beds, including a planned facility at Glasgow's Stobhill Hospital.
The shift in accommodation follows legislation which gives patients, including those who are detained for murder, the right to be moved to a lower-security facility when their condition improves.
Though it has undergone several redevelopments since its inception in 1936, the condition of the hospital is deemed substandard. The facility's regeneration will ensure it meets the requirements of national mental health policies.
Construction is due to begin this year, with revamped patient services at the new hospital expected to be running by 2011. The work will be carried out on a phased basis.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article