In 1960 as consultant psychiatrist and deputy physician superintendent at Stratheden Hospital, Cupar, in Fife, Douglas Haldane, who has died aged 86, established the department of child and family psychiatry. His vision at Playfield House, Stratheden Hospital was to include families in treating children with mental health problems. He was the first consultant to call it the department for child and family psychiatry, and he was the first and only psychiatrist to get the resources to purpose build houses where whole families could be admitted for treatment.

Haldane believed that a child’s mental health was deeply affected by family dynamics and found that engaging with a child alone often had minimal effect on wellbeing. Two residential units to enable work with the whole family were opened in 1975. Haldane also encouraged sessions for parents, where the focus was on their relationship as a couple. He believed that helping parents with their dynamics as partners as opposed to parents would have positive effects on the wellbeing of children.