New Inpatient Mental Health Service for Young People Opens

Being a teenager is tough enough. Dealing with a changing body, hormones and mood swings is difficult, but when you add mental health problems into the equation, it can lead to very real and sometimes life threatening conditions.

Enter Skye House…a new purpose built facility on the Stobhill Hospital site that provides a range of dedicated services for young people aged 12-to-18 years, from across the West of Scotland, who have serious mental health problems.

Skye House opened to patients this month and replaces the existing West of Scotland Adolescent Inpatient Unit at Gartnavel. The new Skye House is a £7.6 million facility with 22 beds – six more than before – and two short stay beds for young people.

It will provide inpatient treatment for young people who suffer from conditions like severe depression, eating disorders, psychosis and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

In addition to all the patient accommodation at Skye House being en-suite, it also has a purpose-built gym, fully equipped classrooms, landscaped gardens and overnight accommodation for visiting families.

Skye House has been specially designed and purpose-built to meet young people’s needs and will lead to substantial improvements in their care and treatment. The planning of the new unit also benefitted from the fact that the patients themselves contributed significantly to the planning process.

Dr Heather Gardiner, Consultant Psychiatrist at Skye House, said: “This new accommodation really is outstanding and will lead to substantial improvements in their care and treatment for this group of patients. Many of our patients can stay with us for many months so an environment conducive to recovery and stability is crucial. Skye House offers a unique and unrivalled ability to offer our patients what they have never had before – a home away from home.”