Mental Health (Safety and Security) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2012 [Draft]
The next item of business concerns consideration of an affirmative instrument. The Subordinate Legislation Committee has raised no issues on the regulations.
The regulations amend regulation 2(2)(a) of the Mental Health (Safety and Security) (Scotland) Regulations 2005. The purpose of that is to include the new medium secure service at the Rohallion clinic in Perth in the list of hospitals where the 2005 regulations apply. That will bring Rohallion into line with the other medium secure units in Scotland. Rohallion is due to open in August.
Will this be the last medium secure unit development? I know that the programme has been to reduce the state hospital numbers by almost half over the past few years, with the substantial refurbishment of the state hospital, and that the clinics in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth have been created, in part, to absorb the effects of that shift to a lower level of security for people for whom that is appropriate. Have we got the balance right between the state hospital, the medium secure unit and locked units or light secure units—I cannot remember the modern term for them.
Low secure.
Low secure; thank you. Those have also been substantially redeveloped. Will this be the conclusion of the situation for the foreseeable future?
The move is part of the programme that was concerned with the flow of patients from the state hospital into medium secure units and low secure units, and then into a community setting. The planning for that is being taken forward on a regional basis, given that a relatively small number of beds are required—the new Rohallion medium secure unit will have 32 beds. We need an approach that is sustainable in geographical terms.
That is helpful. Are you aware of problems in relation to movement from the Scottish Prison Service into medium secure units? Are there barriers to movement, or is the system working effectively? That is a potential area of pressure.
I am not aware that particular problems are presented at the moment. Sometimes there will be moves into a high-security setting, of course.
There are now no high-security places for women in the state hospital. Have we had to transfer women to high-security facilities in England, or have medium secure units been sufficient?
Most of the women who require a secure setting are being dealt with in the medium secure setting in Scotland.
If there are no more questions from members, we move to item 3, which is formal consideration of the motion. I ask the minister to move motion S4M-03154. If no member wants to debate the motion, we will move straight to the question.
Thank you for coming, minister.
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