BBC Scotland today restarts a media feeding frenzy in psychiatric care for children and adolescents which was already a new low in ethical standards across journalism in Scotland

Professor John Robertson OBA

BBC Scotland today has:

A new report has raised concerns about the use of physical restraint and forced tube feeding in Edinburgh’s inpatient mental health ward for 12 to 17-year-olds.

The inspection of the Melville Unit at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People was the first in a series of visits to psychiatric wards.

The visits were ordered by ministers after BBC Scotland’s Disclosure programme uncovered allegations of a “culture of cruelty” at Skye House, the young people’s inpatient facility in Glasgow.

In the last paragraph there, the word ‘after‘ is doing some ‘heavy lifting.’ and word ‘allegations’ needs emboldening.

Here’s what BBC Scotland reported in September 2025:


No inspections were carried out at cruelty claim children’s unit – No official regulator had the power to inspect Scotland’s biggest children’s psychiatric hospital during a seven-year period in which staff were accused of cruelty to patients, it has emerged.

Skye House in Glasgow was visited between 2017 and 2024 by advisory body the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland. However, it did not have any enforcement powers.

The report goes on to repeat the claims of three young women, at some length. There is no place for the staff at the unit to explain or to balance the reporting.

In February 2025, I wrote:

I’ve held back from commenting on the sad reports from the Skye House psychiatric unit for 11-18 year-olds, in Glasgow, but it’s clear that the media are in a sickening feeding frenzy on the reports by three teenagers, former patients, of abusive behaviour by staff there. No one else seems prepared to speak on behalf of the staff and the unit.

So, three teenagers reported abusive behaviour by nurses including mocking suicide attempts.

Skye House supports 24 patients and has been doing so for at least 12 years. I can see no opening date. In that time it will have treated hundreds of adolescents. I can see no statistics. In that time there seems to have been one suicide, in 2018.1

In 2019, the unit was inspected, unannounced, by the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland. They found:

Overall the feedback we received from young people was positive about their experience of care on the wards. Their feedback was that they felt safe and supported during their admission, and that staff were friendly and available to talk to when required. The atmosphere of the unit was welcoming and calm during our visit and staff were able to respond to our unannounced presence without evident difficulty.2

So, I’m not doubting the reports but I am doubting the extent to which they accurately or fairly represent the work of the unit.

Most of all, I am seriously questioning the ethical standards operating across journalism in Scotland.

Sources:

  1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-45420476
  2. https://www.mwcscot.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-08/StobhillHospital_SkyeHouse_03062019a.pdf
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3 thoughts on “BBC Scotland today restarts a media feeding frenzy in psychiatric care for children and adolescents which was already a new low in ethical standards across journalism in Scotland”

  3. BBC like to promote that they ‘verify’ the news , indeed they have a news programme called BBC Verify.

    Yet the BBC are now advertising that two of the guests on tonight in their political debate programme QT are only linked to the media.

    One being Nadine Dorries, who BBC QT is advertising as being merely a “Daily Mail Columnist”....

    One other guest is Mariella Frostrup who BBC QT is advertising as being merely a “Broadcaster and Journalist”.

    On the 4 September this year the same BBC in their website declared this….

    “Former Conservative minister Nadine Dorries has defected to Reform UK……speaking to the Daily Mail, the ex-MP for Mid-Bedfordshire said: “The Tory Party is dead. Its members now need to think the unthinkable and look to the future.”

    “Dorries’ defection came on the eve of Reform’s annual conference in Birmingham”…….

    So on the QT panel tonight is an actual Tory MP, an actual Labour MP and then also Nadine Dorries , a former Tory MP and Tory government Minister who is now a Reform UK representative,.

    Another QT panel member tonight is Mariella Frostrup , whom the BBC are advertising on ‘X’ as being a “broadcaster and Journalist” , yet on 17 October 2024, Mariella Frostrup was announced as the (Labour) UK government’s Menopause Employment Ambassador….

    I wonder if Fiona Bruce will elaborate tonight in her introduction upon who Nadine and Marielle are actually involved with politically..…..

    Also where yet again Reform UK, this time via Nadine Dorries, are given yet another appearance on QT , while the SNP are again denied the same amount of appearance opportunities as Reform UK to appear as regularly as them…..bearing in mind the SNP represents a government within the UK and this, QT, is supposed to be a UK political debate programme.

    Reform UK currently have 5 MP’s ( two of them defected from the Tory party….and another one who was actually elected for Reforms UK as an MP, but she previously was a Tory Councillor)…..the SNP have 9 MP’s all elected as SNP MP’s.

    Reform UK have 1 MSP who defected to them from the Tory party, branch office level…..the SNP have 60 MSP’s all elected as SNP MSP’s.

    Reform UK have 841 Councillors in England, 16 in Wales and 17 In Scotland (all of those Councillors in Scotland were formerly Tory Councillors who then defected to Reform UK)………the SNP have 417 Councillors in Scotland , so why then does the other BBC political debate programme called Debate Night, that is only broadcast in Scotland, give Thomas Kerr so many invites as a guest on their panel……. (as he was a former Tory Councillor who then defected to Reform UK as a Councillor) …..

    The BBC via their various news programmes, various political debate programmes and also their various political discussion programmes always give preference to , and so then give a disproportionate opportunity to , the other various UK party representatives (now more so the pretend party that is Reform UK) on their different political based programmes….that also includes various news programmes.

    So then these various BBC programmes, also invite various (mostly pro UK) Journalists on as guests on their various political programmes. who as guests , are supposed to be regarded by the public as being impartial and objective as ‘Journalists’, who then give their opinions and their answers to questions relating to politics.

    However often , as supposed ‘neutral’ guests, they are heard to then ‘do the business’ (that the BBC expects of them) , in them trashing the SNP as a party and as the Scottish government………while also being blatantly biased and partisan in both promoting and praising the specific political party that they, as media representatives, are either directly or indirectly involved with politically.

    So is that what we will see tonight on QT with both Nadine and Mariella , who are both linked to different UK political parties yet are being presented, as in advertised, by BBC QT, as mere representative of the media ?

    Well I will not be watching tonight …..as BBC QT is pure propaganda via the BBC , but I am sure that social media will enlighten us all tomorrow on their respective, checks notes, ‘Journalistic’ opinions and performances.

    Liz S

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