'Urgent review' after child collects drugs for patient at Aberdeen psychiatric hospital

An “urgent review” has been carried out after a child was able to collect medication on behalf of a patient at an Aberdeen hospital.

The 15-year-old, a relative of the patient at Royal Cornhill Hospital, was not checked for identification while collecting the drugs.

The hospital is the main centre in the north east for the treatment of people with mental health problems.

Aberdeen City Health & Social Care Partnership (ACHSCP) confirmed that staff had been advised that the child was over 16.

It is understood that the medication was collected from a ward that included lithium and diazepam.

Fiona Mitchelhill, chief officer of ACHSCP, said: “We have carried out an urgent review, and we can confirm medication was collected by a relative attending the hospital ward on the patient’s behalf.

“Staff had been advised this individual was over the age of 16; however, this information was not formally verified at the point of collection.

“Our initial review has identified that, while staff sought advice and acted on the information available to them, there is an opportunity to further strengthen our local ward approach to how medication should be collected from the hospital by someone other than the patient.

“Safe use of medication by patients and those who support them is paramount. We have taken immediate steps across the hospital’s wards to clarify that medication should not normally be provided to third parties, including young people, unless there is a clearly documented and appropriate arrangement in place.

“We will learn from this case to further strengthen our systems and safeguard patient care and have taken immediate action to do so.

“We will be responding directly to the individuals who raised this concern to confirm the actions we have taken and our commitment to learning and improving.”