“Her story, alongside those of so many other kids, must lead to change. Health bosses can no longer say they weren’t warned.”
Sadie McKenzie(Image: UGC)
Sadie McKenzie accepts she needed medical help when she was admitted to the young persons unit at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.
But she says the time she spent at the facility in 2020 only succeeded in traumatising her further.
Entering a psychiatric unit would be a daunting experience for anyone, let alone a distressed 15-year-old separated from her mother.
Sadie described how nurses forcefully cut off her hair, a process that staff insisted was required for her own safety.
Yet despite her obvious need for protection, she claims she was later discharged without ever having been properly assessed by a doctor.
Sadie has bravely spoken out about the events of five years ago at a time more people are questioning the way vulnerable youngsters are treated at secure mental health units across the country.
It comes after a BBC Scotland documentary found Skye House in Glasgow was gripped by shocking a culture of cruelty among staff.
A report published last week raised further concerns about the Melville Unit where Sadie was treated.
The Scottish Government insisted it’s the responsibility of health boards to ensure safeguarding of care standards at mental health facilities are in place.
It’s clear a drastic change in approach is required to ensure vulnerable youngsters are given support in such units.
NHS Lothian may have apologised to Sadie for her ordeal but the horror she endured can’t be erased.
Her story, alongside those of so many other kids, must lead to change. Health bosses can no longer say they weren’t warned.
Trust comes first
Just as most of us were born into the NHS, we were raised on the BBC. It is there from cradle to grave, a vital thread in our national fabric.
But that importance brings responsibility. We all pay for the BBC, which means it has to serve everyone and keep its politics straight down the middle.
We learned last week that it had failed.
A dodgy edit of a Donald Trump speech on Panorama was exposed by a whistleblower – who was then ignored.
The scandal handed the BBC’s right-wing enemies the perfect excuse to pile in. Imagine having to take lectures in transparency from Boris Johnson and Trump. So it was right director-general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness quit.
The Trump edit alone wasn’t enough to force their resignations. But it was the final straw in a string of slip-ups and that made it much more serious.
At the BBC, trust is everything. And when it starts to slip away on your watch, there’s really only one thing to do: follow it out the door.
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