Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, England. It is the oldest of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and

Rampton Secure Hospital Rampton Secure Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital near the village of Woodbeck between Retford and Rampton in Nottinghamshire, England. It is one of three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, alongside Ashworth Hospital ...

in Nottinghamshire. The hospital's catchment area consists of four National Health Service regions: London, Eastern,

South East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

and

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. It is managed by the

West London NHS Trust West London NHS Trust is aNHS trustwhich provides mental and physical health services to the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham and Hounslow. It also provides some services on a national basis, including forensic and high-securit ...

History

The hospital was first known as the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum. Completed in 1863, it was built to a design by

Sir Joshua Jebb Sir Joshua Jebb, (8 May 1793 – 26 June 1863) was a Royal Engineer and the British Surveyor-General of convict prisons. He participated in the Battle of Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812, and surveyed a route between Ottawa ...

, an officer of the Corps of

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

, and covered within its secure perimeter. The first patient was a female admitted for

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of reso ...

on 27 May 1863. Notes described her as being 'feeble minded'. It has been suggested by an analysis of her records that she was most likely also suffering from congenital syphilis. The first male patients arrived on 27 February 1864. The original building plan of five blocks (four for men and one for women) was completed in 1868. A further male block was built in 1902. Due to overcrowding at Broadmoor, a branch asylum was constructed at

and opened in 1912. Rampton was closed as a branch asylum at the end of 1919 and reopened as an institution for " mental defectives" rather than lunatics. During the First World War Broadmoor's block 1 was also used as a Prisoner-of-war camp, called Crowthorne War Hospital, for mentally ill German soldiers. After the escape in 1952 of John Straffen, who murdered a local child, the hospital set up an alarm system, which is activated to alert people in the vicinity, as well as the public including those in the surrounding towns of Sandhurst, Wokingham,

Bracknell Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...

and

Bagshot Bagshot is a town in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. In the past, Bagshot served as an important staging post between London, Southampton and the West Country, evidenced by the original c ...

, when any potentially dangerous patient escapes. It is based on Second World War

air raid sirens A civil defense siren, also known as an air-raid siren or tornado siren, is a siren used to provide an emergency population warning to the general population of approaching danger. It is sometimes sounded again to indicate the danger has pas ...

, and a two-tone alarm sounds across the whole area in the event of an escape. Until 2018, it was tested every Monday morning at 10 am for two minutes, after which a single tone 'all-clear' was sounded for a further two minutes. All schools in the area must keep procedures designed to ensure that in the event of a Broadmoor escape no child is ever out of the direct supervision of a member of staff. Sirens were located at

Sandhurst School Sandhurst School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England. The headteacher is Debbie Smith. History The school was opened in 1969. The first headteacher was Bill Dally. He retired from the post ...

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

, Bracknell Forest Council depot and other sites until they were decommissioned upon the opening of the hospital's new site. Following the Peter Fallon QC inquiry into Ashworth Special Hospital which reported in 1999, and found serious concerns about security and abuses resulting from poor management, it was decided to review the security at all three of the special hospitals in England. Until this time each was responsible for maintaining its own security policies.Fallon, Peter; Bluglass, Robert; Edwards, Brian; Daniels, Granville (January 1999
Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Personality Disorder Unit, Ashworth Special Hospital
published by the Stationery Office. Accessed 12 November 2007Langlands, Alan (22 May 2000)
Report of the review of security at the high security hospitals
Department of Health. Accessed 12 November 2007 This review was made the personal responsibility of Sir Alan Langlands, who at the time was chief executive of the

NHS England NHS England, officially the NHS Commissioning Board, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the ...

. The report that came out of the review initiated a new partnership whereby the Department of Health sets out a policy of safety, and security directions, that all three special hospitals must adhere to. In 2003, the Commission for Healthcare Improvement declared the Victorian buildings at Broadmoor Hospital 'unfit for purpose'. In 2018 the hospital was rated as Good overall by the Care Quality Commission.

Therapies

Broadmoor uses both psychiatric medication and

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

, as well as occupational therapy. One of the therapies available is the arts, and patients are encouraged to participate in the Koestler Awards Scheme. One of the longest-detained patients at Broadmoor is Albert Haines, who set a legal precedent in 2011 when his mental health tribunal hearing was allowed to be fully public; he argued there that he had never been given the type of counselling he had always sought, and the panel urged the clinicians to work more collaboratively and clearly towards his psychiatric rehabilitation.Broadmoor patient Albert Haines loses appeal bid
'' The Independent'', Jerome Taylor, 26 October 2011

Misconceptions

Because of its high walls and other visible security features, and the inaccurate news reporting it has received in the past, the hospital is often assumed to be a prison by members of the public. Many of its patients are sent to it via the criminal justice system, and its original design brief incorporated an essence of addressing criminality in addition to mental illness; however, the layout inside and the daily routine are designed to assist the therapy practised there rather than to meet the criteria necessary for it to be run along the lines of a prison in its daily functions. However, nearly all staff are members of the Prison Officers' Association, as opposed to other health service unions such as UNISON and the Royal College of Nursing.

Governance

Historical governance

The first medical superintendent was John Meyer. His assistant, William Orange CB, MD, FRCP, LSA, succeeded him. Orange established "a management style that was greatly admired". He also advised the Home Office on how to approach criminal insanity. Orange was in charge from 1870–1886. From its opening, until 1948, Broadmoor was managed by a Council of Supervision, appointed by and reporting to the Home Secretary. Thereafter, the Criminal Justice Act of 1948 transferred ownership of the hospital to the Department of Health (and the newly formed NHS) and oversight to the Board of Control for Lunacy and Mental Deficiency established under the Mental Deficiency Act 1913. It also renamed the hospital Broadmoor Institution. The hospital remained under direct control of the Department of Health – a situation that reportedly "combined notional central control with actual neglect" – until the establishment of the

Special Hospitals Service Authority The Special Hospitals Service Authority (SHSA) was a special health authority of the National Health Service in England from 1989 to 1996. It had responsibility for managing the three high-security "special" psychiatric hospitals in England: Ash ...

in 1989, with Charles Kaye as its first chief executive. Alan Franey ran the hospital from 1989 to 1997, having been recommended for the post by his friend

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known ...

. His leadership was undermined by persistent rumours of sexual impropriety on the hospital grounds. Allegedly he ignored at least three sexual assaults that he had been informed about. The Special Hospitals Service Authority was abolished in 1996, being replaced by individual special health authorities in each of the high-security hospitals. The Broadmoor Hospital Authority was itself dissolved on 31 March 2001.

Current governance

On 1 April 2001,

West London Mental Health (NHS) Trust West London NHS Trust is aNHS trustwhich provides mental and physical health services to the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham and Hounslow. It also provides some services on a national basis, including forensic and high-securi ...

took over the responsibility for the hospital. The trust reports to the NHS Executive through NHS England London. The former director, who then became the CEO of the Trust, quit in 2009 after Healthcare Commission/Care Quality Commission findings of serious failures to ensure patient safety at Broadmoor. In 2014 the director of specialist and forensic services resigned (and was employed elsewhere in the NHS) just prior to the conclusions of an investigation into a bullying culture. The next permanent CEO retired in 2015 in the wake of poor Care Quality Commission findings and other problems in the Trust. A new head of security was appointed in March 2013, John Hourihan, who had thirty years' experience at

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

and had worked as a bodyguard for members of the royal family. Meanwhile, the trust allowed

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

to film a two-part documentary within Broadmoor in 2014. Press releases stated that on average there are four 'assaults' per week on staff. Psychiatrist Amlan Basu, clinical director of Broadmoor since March 2014, promoted the documentary but then decided to leave the NHS in 2015 amidst funding and staffing problems, despite the Trust having just highlighted investment in his skills through its 'prestigious initiative to improve the quality of patient care in the NHS.'

Buildings

Much of Broadmoor's architecture is still Victorian, including the gatehouse, which has a clock tower. Following long-standing reports that the old buildings were unfit for purpose (for therapy or safety), planning permission was granted in 2012 for a £242 million redevelopment, involving a new unit comprising 10 wards to adjoin the existing 6 wards of the modern Paddock Unit, resulting in total bed numbers of 234. Building company Kier reported in 2013 a sum of £115 million for the new unit of 162 beds, ready to accept patients by the start of 2017, and £43 million for a separate new medium secure unit for men nearby. A new unit called the Paddock Centre already opened on 12 December 2005 to contain and treat patients classed as having a 'dangerous severe personality disorder' (DSPD). This was a new and much debated category invented on behalf of the UK government, based on an individual being considered a 'Grave and Immediate Danger' to the general public, and meeting some combination of criteria for personality disorders and/or high scores on the Hare Psychopathy Check list – Revised. The Paddock Centre was designed to eventually house 72 patients, but never opened more than four of its six 12-bedded wards. The Department of Health and Ministry of Justice National Personality Disorder Strategy published in October 2011 concluded that the resources invested in the DSPD programme should instead be used in prison based treatment programmes and the DSPD service at Broadmoor was required to close by 31 March 2012. The trust took possession of the first phase of the new buildings, with 16 wards and 234 beds, in May 2019.

Misconduct by staff

Abuse

From at least 1968 the television presenter and disc jockey

undertook voluntary work at the hospital and was allocated his own room, supported by Broadmoor CEO Pat McGrath, who thought it would be good publicity.''Daily Telegraph'', "Broadmoor staff said Jimmy Savile was a 'psychopath' with a 'liking for children'", 1 November 2012
Accessed 1 November 2012 In 1987 a minister in the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS),

Baroness Trumpington Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

, appointed Savile to the management board in charge of Broadmoor. He was being referred to as 'Dr Savile' by both the DHSS and Broadmoor, despite having no medical qualifications or training. In August 1988, following a recommendation by Cliff Graham, the senior civil servant in charge of mental health at the DHSS, Savile was appointed by the Department's health minister Edwina Currie to chair an interim task force overseeing the management of the hospital following the suspension of its board. Currie privately supported Savile's attempts to 'blackmail' the Prison Officers Association and publicly declared her 'full confidence' in him.Jimmy Savile: detailed investigation reveals reign of abuse across NHS
June 2014, ''The Guardian'' After an ITV1 documentary '' Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile'' in October 2012, allegations of sexual abuse by Savile were made or re-made by former patients and staff. The civil servant who first proposed Savile's appointment to the task force at Broadmoor, Brian McGinnis, who ran the mental health division of the DHSS in 1987 before Cliff Graham, has since been investigated by police and prevented from working with children. A Department of Health investigation led by former

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

Kate Lampard into Savile's activities at Broadmoor and other hospitals and facilities in England, with Bill Kirkup leading the Broadmoor aspects, reported in 2014 that Savile had use of a personal set of keys to Broadmoor from 1968 to 2004 (not formally revoked until 2009), with full unsupervised access to some wards. Eleven allegations of sexual abuse were known; this is thought to be a substantial under-estimate, due to how psychiatric patients in particular were disbelieved or put off from coming forward. In five cases the identity of the alleged victim could not be traced, but of the other six it was concluded they had all been abused by Savile, repeatedly in the case of two patients. The investigation also concluded that 'the institutional culture in Broadmoor was previously inappropriately tolerant of staff–patient sexual relationships,' and that when there were female patients they were required to undress and bathe in front of staff and sometimes visitors. A 'shocking' failure to ensure a safe or therapeutic environment for female patients had already been revealed in a 2002 inquiry prior to Broadmoor becoming male-only. In 2010 a female charge nurse received a suspended prison sentence for engaging in sexual activity with a patient at the hospital.

Violating patient confidentiality

Journalists invading the privacy of patients or reporting false information about them have been the subject of dozens of complaints from Broadmoor. Healthcare assistant Robert Neave took payments from '' The Sun'' for several years to provide them with information, including copies of psychiatric reports; this was subsequently investigated by

Operation Elveden Operation Elveden was a British police investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to police officers and other public officials. It was opened as a result of documents provided by News International to the Operation Weeting investiga ...

. Mental health nurse Kenneth Hall was imprisoned in June 2015 for having repeatedly sold stories to the tabloids based on stolen medical notes and fabricated documents.

Former and current patients

* Michael Adebowale, Islamic terrorist who was one of two men convicted for the murder of Lee Rigby in 2013. * Haroon Rashid Aswat, jihadist wanted by the United States. *Antony Baekeland, great-grandson of Leo Baekeland, who stabbed his mother to death *

William Rutherford Benn William Rutherford Benn, later William Rutherford, (1855-1921) was an English translator and journalist, and a member of the political Benn family. In 1883 he murdered his father, the Reverend Julius Benn, and was detained at Broadmoor Criminal L ...

, father of

Dame Margaret Rutherford Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford, (11 May 1892 – 22 May 1972) was an English actress of stage, television and film. She came to national attention following World War II in the film adaptations of Noël Coward's ''Blithe Spirit (1945 film), ...

Peter Bryan Peter Bryan (born 4 October 1969) is a British serial killer with schizophrenia who committed three murders between 1993 and 2004. Early life Bryan was born in London on 4 October 1969, the youngest of seven children of immigrant parents from ...

, serial killer and cannibal who killed an inmate 10 days after being admitted * David Copeland, who killed three people with homemade nail bombs * Richard Dadd, artist * Gregory Davis, spree killer *James Kelly, who escaped from the hospital in 1888 after having murdered his wife, and is a Jack the Ripper suspect proposed by later theorists. *

Christiana Edmunds Christiana Edmunds (3 October 1828 – 19 September 1907), was an English murderer, popularly known as the "Chocolate Cream Killer", who carried out a series of poisonings in Brighton during the early 1870s. Edmunds purchased confectionery from a ...

, the 'Chocolate Cream Poisoner' *

Ibrahim Eidarous Ibrahim Hussein Abdel Hadi Eidarous () (c. 1957 – July 2008) was an Egyptian militant who was alleged to have led the London-based chapter of al-Jihad. He was held in the custody of the United Kingdom from 1999,

, alleged member of al-Jihad * Kenneth Erskine, serial killer *

Frankie Fraser Frank Davidson Fraser (13 December 1923 – 26 November 2014), better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser, was an English gangster who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences.

, gangster *

June and Jennifer Gibbons June Gibbons (born 11 April 1963) and Jennifer Gibbons (11 April 1963 – 9 March 1993) were identical twins who grew up in Wales. They became known as "The Silent Twins", since they only communicated with each other. They wrote works of ficti ...

, known as the silent twins * Daniel Gonzalez, spree killer *Ronald Kray, one of the

Kray twins Ronald Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were identical twin brothers, gangsters and convicted criminals. They were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London, Engl ...

* Thomas John Ley, politician and murderer committed after a case known as the Chalk Pit Murder * Robert Maudsley, serial killer who tortured and murdered an inmate in the hospital over a period of 9 hours * Roderick Maclean, poet who attempted the assassination of Queen Victoria * William Chester Minor, amateur lexicographer known as

the Surgeon of Crowthorne ''The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words'' is a non-fiction history book by British writer Simon Winchester, first published in England in 1998. It was retitled ''The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murde ...

Daniel M'Naghten Daniel M'Naghten (sometimes spelled McNaughtan or McNaughton) (1813 – 3 May 1865) was a Scottish woodturner who assassinated English civil servant Edward Drummond while suffering from paranoid delusions. Through his trial and its aftermath, ...

, Scottish wood-turner and assassin *

Robert Napper Robert Clive Napper (born 25 February 1966) is a English serial killer and rapist. He has been convicted of two murders, one manslaughter, two rapes and two attempted rapes. He was sentenced to indefinite detention at Broadmoor Hospital on 18 Dec ...

, serial killer * Edward Oxford, barman who attempted the assassination of Queen Victoria *

Richard Archer Prince Richard Archer Prince (11 May 1858– 25 January 1937'Murderer's Death in Asylum', ''Nottingham Evening Post'' 27 January 1937), also known as William Archer Flint, was an actor who murdered another actor, William Terriss, outside the Adelphi Th ...

, actor and murderer''The New York Times'', 17 December 1897, p. 3 *

Nicky Reilly Nicky is a diminutive form of the name Nicholas, Nicola and Nicole, occasionally used as a given name in its own right. It can also be used as a diminutive of Dominic. It may refer to: People Sports * Nicky Adams (born 1986), English-born Welsh ...

, failed suicide attacker * Damian Rzeszowski, family murderer *

Charles Salvador Charles Arthur Salvador (formerly Charles Ali Ahmed; born Michael Gordon Peterson on 6 December 1952), better known as Charles Bronson, is a British criminal who has been referred to in the British press as the "most violent prisoner in Brita ...

, armed robber, born Michael Peterson and formerly known as Charles Bronson *Nicholas Salvador, convicted of killing Palmira Silva * John Straffen, serial killer who escaped and killed a young girl some hours later * Peter Sutcliffe, serial killer known as the 'Yorkshire Ripper', survived multiple murder attempts on his life from other inmates *

Roy Shaw Royston Henry Shaw (11 March 1936 – 14 July 2012), also known as Roy "Pretty Boy" Shaw, Roy "Mean Machine" Shaw and Roy West, was a property investor, author and businessman from the East End of London who was formerly a criminal and Prison se ...

, gangster * Ronald True, murderer *

Robert Torto Robert Torto is a Ghanaian hate criminal who murdered two Asian men, Khizar Hayat and Hamidullah Hamidi, in the London district of Kennington in 2006. He was described as the "Son of God killer" in the media, having claimed to be the Son of ...

, who claimed to be the son of God after killing two men * Barry Williams, spree killer * Graham Young, serial killer

References

External links

*
Broadmoor Hospital on the NHS website

Care Quality Commission inspection reportsBerkshire Record Office's Broadmoor History pages
Accessed 2011-04-18 * Fallon, Peter; Bluglass, Robert; Edwards, Brian; Daniels, Granville (January 1999

published by The Stationery Office. Accessed 2007-11-12 *Home Office. National offenders management service
Dangerous People with Severe Personality Disorder Programme
Accessed 2007-06-07 *All in the mind (Wednesday 3 March 2004, 5.00 pm). BBC – Live cha
''The rehabilitation of the mentally ill in Broadmoor and elsewhere''
Accessed 2007-05-19
BBC News
background on Broadmoor Hospital">BBC News">BBC News
background on Broadmoor Hospital*Landscapes & Gardens (2002
Architectural listing for Broadmoor Hospital
University of York. Accessed 2007-05-19
BBC News story on scandals and controversy regarding Broadmoor and other secure hospitals
*Together-U
Independent Patients' Advocacy Service
for Broadmoor Hospital. Accessed 2007-06-15 *Fallon, Peter; Bluglass, Robert; Edwards, Brian; Daniels, Granville (January 1999) – overview of the History of the Hospitals in the context of the Ashworth Inquir

Accessed June 2008 {{Authority control Hospitals established in 1863 Buildings and structures in Berkshire Hospitals in Berkshire Bracknell Forest Jimmy Savile NHS hospitals in England Psychiatric hospitals in England 1863 establishments in England