An island hospital has been told to tighten up its policies after it emerged dogs were regular visitors.

On a visit to Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway, the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI) were told the hospital had introduced visits of a therapy dog to a ward with patients suffering cognitive impairment.

The inspectors, who carried out an unannounced visit in March, said: "Using animals as therapy can benefit patients.

"While the senior staff nurse was able to tell us the precautions they would follow during therapy dog visits, they were not aware of any guidance or policy which outlined how the visits should be managed."

The inspectors said: "The infection control team told us they had no knowledge of this arrangement and had not been consulted."

The HEI report said NHS Western Isles had to implement a policy for managing approved therapy animal visits to the hospital, which included suitable control measures to reduce the risk of infection to patients, visitors and staff.

A spokeswoman for NHS Western Isles said: "We welcome the findings of the inspection which confirmed the hospital was clean and well maintained. The introduction of visits by a dog, for therapeutic purposes with long stay patients, has been beneficial. We will of course comply with the requirement to develop a comprehensive policy to ensure there is no increased risk of infection."