image: Stephen Sweeney, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14042993

A Glasgow mental health institution has been denounced by patients over alleged mistreatment, dating back nearly a decade. 

Leverndale Hospital in Crookston has been heavily criticised, with patients having described their experiences at the facility as ‘horrendous’ and ‘terrifying’. Staff have been accused of being largely unhelpful, irresponsible, and incompetent while demonstrating a “clear lack of understanding or regard for their patient’s needs”.

Isabell Bell, a local 44-year-old whose mother was admitted to the hospital in February last year, said that the patient “nearly died there, and if it was not for me being her protector she would not be here now”.

Bell said that Levendale staff brushed off her concerns about her mother’s care, and dragged their feet when it came to her examination and diagnosis, leading to long-term medical issues that she believes may otherwise have been avoided. 

“I hope they get investigated; it’s just ridiculous. She could have died.”

She also said that hospital staff forced her mother to remain in her room by herself at night, dismissing her pleas to stay in the day room and forcing her to endure violent hallucinations alone. 

“The majority of them [Leverndale staff] are in it for the wrong reasons. You can tell they don’t care; there’s not a compassionate bone in their body.”

Incidents like this date back years, indicating a lack of improvement in the quality of care. In one instance in 2021, 31-year-old Jonathan Gilmour died in his room at Leverndale’s Intensive Psychiatric Care Unit. 

Reports claim that by the time his body was found, rigour mortis had already set in, indicating he had already been dead for hours when he was discovered, despite his care plan stating he should be monitored at all times. Leverndale authorities have been unable to provide a clear explanation. 

Despite a high number of critics, few of those condemning the hospital have formally complained, meaning their experiences are going unreported. Elizabeth Fraser, who stayed at Leverndale for about 5 weeks in February 2019, is just one of the patients who chose not to file a complaint.

“I’ve come out the end, and I have witnessed horrible things. Is that a chapter that I want to open back up? No.”

The Mental Health Network for Greater Glasgow added that, “People [often] do not wish to revisit their episode of mental ill-health,” and that “For some, the NHS complaints procedure is not easy to navigate, and there are time limits relating to this.”

Fraser, who has previously worked in mental health units, said that staff were excessively and recklessly violent when subduing patients, often escalating to sedative drugs and manhandling if a patient was having a breakdown. 

Fraser said that in one instance “A guy was trying to climb out the window up the curtains; psychosis had kicked in, he was having a hysterical time of it. The wee guy didn’t know where he was. They just hit panic mode. There were four of them on this wee skinny guy; just grabbed him, jabbed him, dragged him in a room and then somebody sat at his door for six hours.”

“Four on one? There was no need for that. There was no attempt to calm him before medicating either. It was just ‘jab and grab and let’s go.’”

“I would presume they get the same basic training that I got when I worked in a mental health unit, and it wasn’t that level of training that was carried out, if I’m honest with you,” Fraser added. 

“You need to try and verbally redirect. Put some effort in before you stab somebody with a jag and throw them in a room.”

Fraser, who was hospitalised due to a nervous episode related to a violent incident, said she was also placed in situations like this several times during her stay. 

“Watching stuff like that, it was absolutely horrific.” 

Fraser was upfront with staff about her feelings regarding these incidents, but she was not taken seriously. One nurse, whom she notes as being particularly cruel, told her: “I think you forget your position here; you’re a patient.”

She also said many other nurses were ‘absolutely lovely’, but that oftentimes, staff did not take her seriously due to her condition. 

Even though Fraser had complied with staff and was listed as a voluntary patient, when she felt she had recovered and was ready to leave, she was told she would be detained if she tried to leave. She was kept for an additional two weeks. 

Men Matter Scotland, a men’s mental health charity based in Drumchapel, has also recently expressed frustration with the hospital after a man who was saved from committing suicide at around 11pm on February 4^th was discharged from Leverndale at 6am the following morning. 

Fraser Devine, Head of Operations and Co-Founder of Men Matter Scotland, said that “It’s a shocker, fictional, but we see it every day so we’re used to it. And it’s always Leverndale; they get taken there to be assessed, then they’re told to get a good sleep, and they’ll be alright in the morning.”

Devine, who is also a former patient at Leverndale, added that “the government cut all the funding for the mental health services. They create a new strategy, but then it’s up to charities to carry it out. So we don’t take any government funding, because it’s the government’s fault the people are in the state they are in.”

When asked for comment on these complaints, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said that “Patient safety is our priority, and we invite any patients who have questions about their care to speak with us directly. We cannot comment on patient cases due to confidentiality.”