Health Board to adopt “you said, we did” commitment

At that time, Healthcare Improvement Scotland – who had carried out an unannounced inspection – said: “NHS boards usually provide action plan updates 18 weeks after publication of the inspection report.

“Due to significant concerns raised during the inspection process, we have asked NHS Western Isles to provide additional updates at 6, 10, 14 and 18 weeks”.

Now Healthcare Improvement Scotland has told the Gazette: “We have agreed with NHS Western Isles that they will provide another update in July to complete the outstanding actions from the update provided to us in April.”

Among concerns raised by the inspectorate was mixing of paediatric patients with adults and there being “no risk assessment in place to support the movement of patients displaying signs of confusion and aggression”.

There were also concerns about staff training and management practices which did not encourage employees to raise issues with confidence they would be addressed.

A lengthy list of action points was issued and according to the “18 week” update last month, signed off by board chair Gillian McCannon and chief executive, Gordon Jamieson, most of these have been addressed though some were still showing at “amber”.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland had told the Board: “NHS Western Isles must improve feedback to staff on incidents raised through the incident reporting system and ensure learning from incidents is used to improve safety and outcomes for patients and staff”.

In response, they undertook to establish “focus groups” and an update states: “Focus groups are complete and outcomes have been presented to the wellbeing group. There are plans for communications on a 'You said, we did' piece that will ensure we can feed back to staff”.

Another commitment is that: “Staff will be encouraged to raise any staff wellbeing concerns at hospital huddles where supportive actions can be agreed”.

One area in which there is still “work in progress” is staff training to comply with requirements for “support and protection” training for both children and adults. The Board was told by Health Improvement Scotland that “all staff must have completed appropriate training relevant to their roles”.

While proportions of staff who have received this training have risen significantly following the critical report, they still fall short of requirements and the programme of training will continue.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland also stated: “NHS Western Isles must ensure that patient dignity is maintained at all times. This includes but is not limited to access to shower facilities for all patients”.

The Health Board responded: “Full refurbishment of medical ward 2 is expected to commence in 2026. As an interim measure patients are supported to use showering facilities in Erisort ward, and an additional shower has been reinstated in medical ward 2”.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland said updates provided by NHS Western Isles are available on the HIS website.