![\"Sadie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_JS387397394.jpg\")
Sadie McKenzie(Image: UGC)<\/p>\n“Her story, alongside those of so many other kids, must lead to change. Health bosses can no longer say they weren\u2019t warned.”Sadie McKenzie(Image: UGC)<\/p>\n
Sadie McKenzie accepts she needed medical help when she was admitted to the young persons unit at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.<\/a><\/p>\n But she says the time she spent at the facility in 2020 only succeeded in traumatising<\/a> her further.<\/p>\n Entering a psychiatric unit would be a daunting experience for anyone, let alone a distressed 15-year-old separated from her mother.<\/a><\/p>\n Sadie described how nurses forcefully cut off her hair, a process that staff insisted was required for her own safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yet despite her obvious need for protection<\/a>, she claims she was later discharged without ever having been properly assessed by a doctor.<\/p>\n Sadie has bravely spoken out<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n It comes after a BBC Scotland documentary found Skye House in Glasgow was gripped by shocking<\/a> a culture of cruelty among staff.<\/p>\n A report published last week raised further concerns about the Melville Unit where Sadie was treated<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Scottish Government insisted it\u2019s the responsibility<\/a> of health boards to ensure safeguarding of care standards at mental health facilities are in place.<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear a drastic change<\/a> in approach is required to ensure vulnerable youngsters are given support in such units.<\/p>\n NHS Lothian may have apologised to Sadie for her ordeal but the horror<\/a> she endured can\u2019t be erased.<\/p>\n Her story, alongside those of so many other kids, must lead to change<\/a>. Health bosses can no longer say they weren\u2019t warned.<\/p>\n Trust comes first<\/p>\n Just as most of us were born into the NHS<\/a>, we were raised on the BBC. It is there from cradle to grave, a vital thread in our national fabric.<\/p>\n But that importance brings responsibility. We all pay for the BBC, which means it has to serve everyone and keep its politics<\/a> straight down the middle.<\/p>\n We learned last week that it had failed<\/a>.<\/p>\n A dodgy edit of a Donald Trump speech on Panorama was exposed by a whistleblower<\/a> \u2013 who was then ignored.<\/p>\n The scandal handed the BBC\u2019s right-wing enemies the perfect excuse to pile in. Imagine having to take lectures in transparency from Boris Johnson<\/a> and Trump. So it was right director-general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness quit.<\/p>\n The Trump<\/a> edit alone wasn\u2019t enough to force their resignations. But it was the final straw in a string of slip-ups and that made it much more serious.<\/p>\n At the BBC, trust<\/a> is everything. And when it starts to slip away on your watch, there\u2019s really only one thing to do: follow it out the door.<\/p>\n Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!<\/p>\n Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.<\/p>\n You’ll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.<\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.<\/p>\n