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Imagine your child, or a child you knew, was struggling with their mental health so severely they make an attempt on their life.
They’re referred to a psychiatric hospital, where you assume staff are experienced, empathetic and kind. You, your family and your child are given hope that a trusted NHS institution will care for and aid their patients, giving them centred care to allow them to recover.
Imagine that instead, after you leave your child in the care of the nurses and doctors, they are bullied, berated, neglected and abused by those who are paid to care for them.
This is exactly what has happened at Skye House, a psychiatric ward at Glasgow’s Stobhill Hospital – and BBC iPlayer’s ‘Disclosure’ has aired a documentary detailing the shocking truths behind patient treatment.
Young women have unveiled the callousness that took place behind the doors of Skye House while they were teenage patients back in 2013. The documentary features multiple interviews with numerous women sharing their chilling experiences at Skye House. Many of them took videos, pictures and kept a journal depicting their pain, mistreatment and the punishment focused environment they were forced to endure.
This included overuse of restraints and sedating medication, inflicting severe bruising upon patients, mocking their suicide attempts and in one case, forcibly dragging a patient from their bed by their legs and put into the shower fully clothed.
The documentary is a saddening but eye-opening exposé and is a gripping yet hard watch.
One anorexic patient shared her experience. She had a feeding tube put up her nose with such force, it caused her a great amount of pain and caused her to bleed, she said “their job was to make me better, in that sense, they failed.”
The interviewer Mark Daly, known for BBC’s Panorama and for “looking at stories some people don’t want to you to hear”, narrates and interviews the women affected and NHS staff. He asks the right questions while talking to the women. However, his narration is very monotone which proved hard to listen too.
His interview with an NHS board member, who has responsibility over Skye House staff and their compliance of appropriate patient care, is a captivating watch as Daly presses him to understand why such mistreatment went on under his watch. Despite his monotonous narration Daly proves a determined and incisive interviewer.
This documentary is a must watch, especially in a time like today, where there is a huge focus on mental health and access to appropriate care. This documentary shows mental health institutions that employ staff that abuse their patients should be held accountable and creates a huge eye opener for other psychiatric institutions.
The documentary’s structure is effective in keeping the viewers’ attention and interest by going through each victim’s experience and then interviewing NHS staff who show their horror to what went on at Skye House. It shows the utmost sympathy to the victims and their families. This is done in a heartfelt, understanding manner and clearly respects the boundaries of those affected.
It is important to highlight some viewers may find the content of the documentary triggering. It is available for eleven months on BBC iPlayer.
