Three acute mental health wards at the Royal Hospital Edinburgh in Morningside were visited by the Mental Welfare Commission in announced visits over September and October, following a previous round of visits in November 2017.  

The Commission is an independent body that monitors the care of people with mental illness, learning disabilities and dementia to ensure their human rights are respected.  

The reports welcomed the “extensive” range of activities provided at the wards through the Royal Edinburgh Hospital’s Hive activity centre and by dedicated recreational nurses and occupational therapists.  

The quality of care was rated highly by patients and their families across the wards. At the Balcarres ward, staff were praised for being “skilled and responsive” when helping patients with varied needs.  

The wards also received praise for their “modern and fresh” facilities, which included spacious day areas and well-maintained courtyard gardens, and for allowing patients to personalise communal areas, corridors and rooms.  

Commission staff had concerns about record keeping at the wards, however. At Craiglockhart ward, a 16-bed ward for adult women, the inspectors said there were some “variations in the quality of the completion” of the care plans used to guide patient care. 

They explained: “Some patients had detailed, personalised care plans that they had participated in and signed, while others had a single goal that was not person-centred.” 

The shift from paper-based patient records to a new electronic system also posed challenges. The Commission report on the Meadows ward said electronic notes there were “more detailed, person-centred and up to date” than their paper equivalents.   

Staff at the Meadows ward added they were “stretched” by a “focus on patient flow” and unable to focus on patient care as much they wanted to, though the report notes new co-ordinators had been put in place to smooth the discharge process.  

A Mental Welfare Commission spokesperson said: "We undertake over 100 local visits like these every year. By publishing our reports we hope to help share good practice where we find it, and call for change where services are lacking."