Carstairs Patients in Appeal for Transfer

More than 30 patients at the Carstairs state hospital have appealed to a new human rights tribunal for release, claiming they are being held under “excessive security”. The patients – most of whom have committed crimes while mentally ill – are appealing to move to lower-security units.

The three-person, independent tribunal was established in May after campaigners warned that some patients were “trapped” at the high-security hospital because of a lack of medium-secure beds in Scotland.

The deputy health minister, Lewis Macdonald, said new medium-security units in Glasgow, Perth and Northern Ireland will allow for the transfer of successful appeals. “The number of appeals will be manageable,” he said.