Fury at £630,000 annual bill for sole female patient at Carstairs

Published on Friday 12 September 2008 22:09

HEALTH chiefs were criticised yesterday after it emerged it costs £630,000 a year to house the only female patient at Scotland's high-security hospital.

The woman, who has not been named, is being kept in a ward at Carstairs State Hospital in Lanarkshire.

The building is to be closed and demolished but the woman has to remain in the ward while her transfer is discussed by health bosses.

The hospital's chief executive, Andreana Adamson, confirmed yesterday that 630,000 would be saved every year when the ward closed.

Labour health spokeswoman Margaret Curran said she planned to table questions on the matter in parliament.

She added: "This defies common sense. This cannot be in the interests of the NHS or the patient. We need an immediate explanation and action. This cannot be allowed to continue."

Ms Adamson said the woman, who is from Fife, needed "intensive care" but did not require to be in a high-security hospital and would be returned to the care of NHS Fife.

"We are confident that the remaining female patient will be transferred to appropriate secure services well in advance of planned decommissioning and demolition," she said.

Ms Adamson added that there would no longer be female patients at the hospital. "We believe women can be treated in medium or low secure units and in the community," she said.

A spokesman for NHS Fife said: "It is normal practice for patients in care to be moved between hospitals within NHS Fife and the state hospital, which is a national resource," he said.

Carstairs has 170 male patients. It cares for people with psychological disorders who pose a danger to the public.