SECURITY at the State Hospital in Carstairs is to be tightened to
protect staff and prevent drugs and weapons being smuggled in.
All staff and visitors to the hospital will have to pass through an
airport-style scanning device. The equipment is to be installed this
summer at a cost of #200,000, paid for by the Scottish Office.
Yesterday, the hospital's general manager, Mr Dick Manson, said that
the hospital had sought advice on security from Strathclyde Police and
the Scottish Prison Service.
He was reluctant to put an exact figure on the number of breaches of
security over the last year, but said there had been very few. However,
he said in the past patients had bullied staff into bringing in alcohol,
drugs and weapons.
The hospital's chairman, Mr Philip Hamilton-Grierson, added that the
issue of security had to be constantly revised.
''We are determined to make sure that no visitor, member of staff, or
member of the public, can be put at risk through anyone being
compromised or forced to smuggle-in any contraband items.
''We are committed to making the hospital's environment as safe as
possible,'' he said.
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