The Special Hospitals Service Authority (SHSA) was a
special health authority of the
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
from 1989 to 1996. It had responsibility for managing the three high-security "special" psychiatric hospitals in England:
Ashworth,
Broadmoor and
Rampton Rampton may refer to:
People
*Cal Rampton (1913–2007), U.S. politician
* George Rampton (1888–1971), English footballer
*Richard Rampton (born 1941), British lawyer
*Sheldon Rampton (born 1957), U.S. political writer
* Lucybeth Rampton (1914â ...
.
The SHSA was established to distance the hospitals from the direct control of the
Department of Health
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...
. Its Operational Brief set out six principal objectives:
The Special Hospitals: A Short History
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# ensure the continuing safety of the public;
# ensure the provision of appropriate treatment for patients;
# ensure a good quality of life for both patients and staff;
# develop the hospitals as centres of excellence for the training of staff in all disciplines in forensic and other branches of psychiatry, psychiatric care and treatment;
# develop closer working relationships with local and regional NHS psychiatric services;
# promote research into fields related to forensic psychiatry.
This document also stated that the Authority should be "constituted as a small organisation, operating flexibly and maximising delegation of operational responsibility to hospital level, rather than acting as a centralised interventionist body". To this end, a Unit General Manager was appointed to oversee the work of each of the three hospitals.
The Authority was abolished in 1996, when its commissioning functions passed to the High Security Psychiatric Services Commissioning Board, while each of the hospitals became independently managed as a Special Health Authority in its own right.
See also
* Prison#Psychiatric facilities
References
{{Authority control
1989 establishments in England
1996 disestablishments in England
Defunct National Health Service organisations
Former mental health organisations in the United Kingdom
Government agencies established in 1989
NHS special health authorities