Mental health patients at risk of ‘inhumane and degrading’ treatment, says watchdog

MENTAL healthcare in Scotland has failed to keep pace with developments in England and Wales, putting patients at risk of “inhuman and degrading” treatment through excessive restraint, according to Scotland’s human rights watchdog.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has warned that current safeguards may not protect patients from threats to their lives, and that shortcomings in record-keeping and safeguarding infrastructure meant it was unable to provide assurances that such harm did not occur.