{"id":275044,"date":"2025-11-21T08:07:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T08:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/275044\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T08:07:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T08:07:12","slug":"nhs-tayside-bosses-told-urgent-action-needed-in-mental-health-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/275044\/","title":{"rendered":"NHS Tayside bosses told ‘urgent action’ needed in mental health services"},"content":{"rendered":"

Efforts to address \u201clong-standing issues\u201d in mental health care at NHS Tayside have \u201cnot yet delivered significant change\u201d, Scotland\u2019s public spending watchdog has warned.<\/p>\n

Auditor General for Scotland Stephen Boyle said \u201curgent action\u201d is needed, adding the health board must be clear on its priorities for making improvements.<\/p>\n

Responding to the report, First Minister John Swinney ruled out bringing in external leadership to take over the board, but said he would revisit that position in January.<\/p>\n

His comments came as Audit Scotland published the latest report on mental health services in the area, which revealed that while a decision to move all inpatient mental health care to one site was taken in 2018, it is \u201cnot clear\u201d if this is on track.<\/p>\n

There is also a \u201cdisconnect\u201d between the views of staff and NHS leaders on the plans to move Murray Royal Hospital in Perth, the report added, with Audit Scotland finding \u201cmost staff had indicated they were not willing to transfer\u201d.<\/p>\n

NHS managers are \u201cengaging with staff\u201d on the issue, with measures planned to \u201cencourage staff to transfer\u201d and to take on new workers if needed.<\/p>\n

However, Audit Scotland said these plans \u201cwere not yet costed to determine if they were affordable\u201d.<\/p>\n

The report comes more than five years after a highly critical independent inquiry made 51 recommendations for improvements in mental health care in NHS Tayside.<\/p>\n

The inquiry, which published its findings in 2020, was carried out after families raised concerns about the care their loved ones received.<\/p>\n

It heard from more than 1,500 patients, their relatives, staff and other organisations, and found services had consistently failed to meet guidelines for care, with the report revealing some patients who talked about suicide reported being told to \u201cget a grip\u201d by staff.<\/p>\n

In 2021, ministers appointed an Independent Oversight and Assurance Group (IOAG) to monitor NHS Tayside\u2019s progress, with this body\u2019s final report in January 2023 identifying six priority areas to focus on.<\/p>\n

Audit Scotland said its latest review gave a \u201chigh-level overview of progress\u201d since the final IOAG report more than two years ago.<\/p>\n

It found the mental health and learning disabilities Whole System Change Programme (WSCP) put in place in Tayside \u201chas made some progress in addressing the issues identified\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the watchdog added: \u201cSubstantial issues and challenges remain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Audit Scotland said leadership arrangements for the WSCP \u201cremain complicated and unclear and are not yet working well\u201d.<\/p>\n

While an executive leadership group was set up to \u201cprovide collaborative leadership of the change programme\u201d, Audit Scotland said it had been told by NHS Tayside this group had been disbanded, although papers in June this year still referred to it.<\/p>\n

The watchdog also complained there were no minutes taken of meetings of the WSCP board, with verbal updates given to the board without accompanying papers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means that the context, scrutiny and rationale for decisions was not documented,\u201d Audit Scotland said.<\/p>\n

Mr Boyle said: \u201cLong-standing issues with the provision and delivery of mental health services across NHS Tayside remain, impacting patients, their families and staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cEfforts to address this have made some progress, but haven\u2019t yet delivered significant change.<\/p>\n

\u201cUrgent action is needed to be clear on the priorities for improvement, with specific actions, timescales and costs detailed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt must be made clear who is responsible for delivering on this, and progress monitored and reported publicly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The First Minister was asked about the report at Holyrood on Thursday by local MSP Michael Marra, who expressed his \u201cutter dismay\u201d at its findings and pushed for \u201cexternal leadership\u201d to be put in place.<\/p>\n

Mr Swinney said: \u201cThere has been a whole load of external scrutiny, and that should be enough \u2013 frankly \u2013 for it to all happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board gave an assurance to take action on the issue by December, with the First Minister saying he will reserve judgment until early in the new year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I will undertake to Mr Marra is that I will review this issue in January, once I see the conclusions of the work that has been committed to by NHS Tayside and then address the point that he has raised with me.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we need to expect the leadership of health boards to get on with meeting the challenges they\u2019ve got to face.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m not dismissing Mr Marra\u2019s suggestion, but I will return to it once I see what progress has been made by December.\u201d<\/p>\n

NHS Tayside welcomed the report, saying while \u201cchallenges remain in terms of the complicated structures and governance arrangements which are currently in place\u201d, there had been \u201crecognition that progress has been delivered in terms of the work of our frontline teams\u201d.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said there had been \u201cpositive improvements\u201d for patients in Mental Health and Learning Disability Services.<\/p>\n

However, the health board accepted \u201cmore work needs to be done to accelerate the pace of change and make a consolidated effort to tackle the long-standing challenges which are related to complicated governance and reporting\u201d.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said: \u201cNHS Tayside board agreed an organisational objective for 2025-26 around integrating mental health and learning disability services which will promote effective and efficient use of all resources, improve outcomes for patients, reduce complexity and enable a clear platform to work at greater pace on change.\u201d<\/p>\n

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