The State Hospital (also known as Carstairs Hospital, or simply Carstairs) is a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

near the village of Carstairs Junction, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It provides care and treatment in conditions of high security for around 140 patients from Scotland and Northern Ireland. The hospital is managed by the State Hospitals Board for Scotland which is a public body accountable to the First Minister of Scotland through the Scottish Government

Health and Social Care Directorates The Health and Social Care Directorates are a group of directorates of the Scottish Government. They are responsible for NHS Scotland, as well as policies on the development and implementation of health and social care. The Chief Executive of NH ...

. It is a Special Health Board, part of the

NHS Scotland NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, ...

and the only hospital of its kind within Scotland.

History

Carstairs Hospital was constructed between 1936 and 1939. Although it was planned and financed as a facility for " mental defectives", it was first used as a military hospital, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

relinquished control of the hospital in 1948, when it became the State Institution for Mental Defectives. On 1 October 1957 there was a large transfer of 90

criminally insane The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic psychiatric disease at the time of the cr ...

prisoners from the criminal lunatic department at HM Prison Perth to Carstairs, and this new combined unit became The State Mental Hospital. The State Hospitals (Scotland) Act 1994 enabled management of the hospital to be transferred from the Secretary of State for Scotland to

, coming under the control of the State Hospitals Board for Scotland. A redevelopment of the hospital was approved by the Scottish Government in September 2007. Construction began in April 2008 and the new hospital facilities were officially opened on 26 June 2012.

Security

The hospital has an alarm system that is activated if any patient escapes to alert people in the vicinity, including those in the neighbouring town of

Lanark Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...

, and local villages such as Ravenstruther and

Forth Forth or FORTH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine * ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008 * ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw * Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...

. The system is tested on the third Thursday of every month at 1300hrs when the all clear siren sounds. One infamous incident of a break out happened in 1976, when two patients, Thomas McCulloch and

Robert Mone Robert Francis Mone (born 1948) is a Scottish double murderer who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1977. In 1967 he shot a teacher at his old school, and in 1976 he and another man escaped from the State Hospital, Carstairs, killing three ...

, murdered a nurse, a patient and a police officer with axes in an escape attempt.

Controversies

*In August 1999, a convicted killer walked free from Carstairs after his lawyers exploited a legal loophole. Noel Ruddle, who served seven years for shooting his next door neighbour with a semi-automatic Kalashnikov type rifle in 1991, was given an absolute discharge by a sheriff because his mental illness was deemed untreatable. He admitted that he had not been cured and had also boasted about beating the system."Released killer says: 'I'm not cured'"

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

. 5 August 1999 A year after his release, Ruddle escaped a prison sentence for threatening to kill a priest. An emergency Bill was brought forward by the Scottish Executive to prevent further exploitation of this loophole, becoming the Mental Health (Public Safety and Appeals) (Scotland) Act 1999, the first Act of the Scottish Parliament. As emergency legislation, it was repealed and replaced by the

Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, which came into effect on 5 October 2005, is an Act of the Scottish Parliament that enables medical professionals to legally detain and treat people against their will on the grounds o ...

on 5 October 2005. *In December 2004, Michael Ferguson was allowed an unsupervised visit to see his fiancée at

East Kilbride Shopping Centre EK, East Kilbride (previously East Kilbride Shopping Centre) is located in the town centre of East Kilbride and is Scotland's biggest undercover shopping centre. Shopping malls EK is made up of six different malls and is now marketed under th ...

. He failed to report back to Carstairs staff two hours later as agreed. First Minister

Jack McConnell Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, (born 30 June 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2001 to 2007. McConnell served as the Minister ...

ordered an urgent report into the decision. * In June 2013, a patient absconded while on an escorted outing to the McArthurGlen shopping centre in Livingston, and was later arrested and taken back into custody after being spotted by members of the public in Hamilton.

References

External links

The State Hospitals Board for Scotland – official website
at

{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1939 1936 establishments in Scotland Health in Northern Ireland Hospitals established in 1936 Hospitals in South Lanarkshire NHS Scotland hospitals Penal system in Scotland Psychiatric hospitals in Scotland Military hospitals in the United Kingdom Carstairs

History

Security

Controversies

See also

References

External links