AN inspection of a Glasgow children’s psychiatric hospital has found understaffing, “burnt-out” workers and patients feeling “belittled and bullied.”

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) and the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland (MWC) were ordered last year to inspect all such units in Scotland by then social care minister Maree Todd, after a BBC documentary raised allegations of a “culture of cruelty” at Glasgow’s 24-bed Skye House.

An unannounced visit to the facility followed in August, giving rise to “significant concerns,” according to the newly published report.

Inspectors found that staff shortages led to the regular working of additional hours, leaving them “burnt out,” while a reliance on bank staff or those from adult wards left the facility often with workers who “did not understand how to interact with teenagers.”

The report did find “positive, respectful and responsive interactions” between staff and patients, but warned a “minority of staff” appeared to believe some patients “chose to behave in the way they did” and were “less deserving of the care.”

That impression appeared to be supported by one patient who told inspectors of being called “pathetic” and “selfish” for needing to be fed by nasogastric tube, while another said some nurses would not clean blood from her face before walking through the ward to the treatment room when she self-harmed.

HIS chief executive Robbie Pearson and Julie Paterson, MWC chief executive, said: “The report highlights the voices and experiences of young people and emphasises the need to strengthen and maintain a positive, respectful culture.

“An improvement action plan has been developed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), and we expect the NHS board to address the areas for improvement and prioritise the requirements to meet national standards.”

NHSGGC was contacted for comment.