The report by the Mental Health Act Commission which criticises some standards in psychiatric wards at Airedale General comes hard on the heels of an inquiry into a string of suicides on the nearby railway line by mental-health patients at the hospital.

That inquiry came up with 18 recommendations, including the need for an urgent review of when doors to Ward 4 should be locked for the safety of patients. This new report into conditions on Ward 4 and Ward 11 produced only two recommendations but one of those is also to do with safety.

The members of the commission noted, rather disturbingly, that there were what they describe as "a number of ligature points" on both wards and that "there would appear to be something of a culture developing of attempted asphyxiation" using these points. In other words, patients are trying to hang themselves from window catches.

When patients enter hospital with mental-health problems, it is with the hope that they can be successfully treated. In the meantime, though, they often need to be protected from their own self-destructive tendencies. That protection at Airedale seems to be less than adequate.

It has taken a long time for it to be realised that the mental-health facilities at this hospital are not up to the purpose for which they are needed. Big improvements clearly must be made - although the best option, if funds can be made available, would appear to be the creation of a purpose-built new unit, away from the hospital, where the safety and security of patients can be better guaranteed.