Treatment of psychiatric patients in remote areas is a concern

Highlands and Islands MSP Rob Gibson wants guarantees that hospital care will be made available to mental health patients without delay in an emergency.

He claimed this did not happen in some rural areas.

Police cells and other unsuitable places were often used to hold patients while treatment was arranged, he said.

Code of practice

Mr Gibson said treatment at dedicated central hospitals could be hundreds of miles away.

"At present, services seem to depend on where you live rather than what you need," he said.

"It is a disgrace that mental health patients are being forced to stay in police cells."

He called on the Scottish Executive to make "considerable new investment" to fund improvements.

Mr Gibson said a code of practice must be put in place to implement the new Mental Health Act passed nine months ago.

He also called for the creation of a Faculty of Rural Medicine to replace the Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative (RARARI) whose working group status will soon be coming to an end.

The executive said it was "simply not acceptable" to hold mental health patients in police cells.