St Andrews Hospital is a mental health facility in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, England. It is managed by

St Andrew's Healthcare St Andrew's Healthcare is a large independent charity based at St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton, which provides psychiatric services. It also has sites in Essex, Birmingham and Nottinghamshire. It runs specialist services for adolescents, men, ...

History

Formation

The facility was founded by public subscription for "private and pauper lunatics" and opened as the Northampton General Lunatic Asylum on 1 August 1838.

Thomas Octavius Prichard Thomas Octavius Prichard (1808–1847) was an English psychiatrist, one of the earliest advocates of "moral management", the humane treatment of the mentally ill. Having served as superintendent for two years at Glasgow Royal Lunatic Asylum, P ...

was appointed as the hospital’s first medical superintendent: he was one of the pioneers of "

moral management Moral treatment was an approach to mental disorder based on humane psychosocial care or moral discipline that emerged in the 18th century and came to the fore for much of the 19th century, deriving partly from psychiatry or psychology and partly f ...

", the humane treatment of the mentally ill. The chapel was designed by

Sir George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

and opened in 1863. It became St Andrew's Hospital for Mental Diseases in the 1930s and elected to remain a charity rather than joining 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 1948.

Controversies

''Dispatches'' exposure

In 2017, Channel 4 '' Dispatches'' aired ''Under Lock and Key'', which highlighted that people with learning disabilities and autism were being kept in secure hospitals, in concerning conditions. The show detailed the experiences of several former patients at St Andrew's Hospital. Concerns included the use of restraint, seclusion and frequent sedation, with one patient remaining mostly in segregation for 22 months, in a room with minimal natural light. It was also revealed that four patients had died on one ward between October 2010 and May 2011 and that all had been prescribed

Clozapine Clozapine is a psychiatric medication and is the first atypical antipsychotic (also called second-generation antipsychotic). It is primarily used to treat people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders who have had an inadequate respo ...

. Information that highlighted the role of the use of Clozapine in the deaths of these patients was not shared with the coroner at the initial inquest into one of the deaths. After the programme's broadcast, St Andrew's issued a statement refuting the allegations that appeared in the programme.

''Girls on the Edge''

In 2018 the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services at the hospital was featured in a BBC Two documentary entitled ''Girls on the Edge''. The programme followed three families whose adolescent daughters had been sectioned under the

Mental Health Act 1983 The Mental Health Act 1983 (c.20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It covers the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered people, the management of their property and other related matters, forming part of the men ...

to protect them from harming themselves. The film, made by Dragonfly Film and Television, won a

Mind The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

Media Award.

Walsall Council legal action

In 2018, the father of a girl who has

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

and

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

won a court case against

Walsall Council Walsall Council, formerly Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council was created in 1974 to administer the newly formed Metropolitan Borough of Walsall. Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council was assessed by the Audit Commission in 2008 and judged to ...

, who had sought to prevent him from publicising details of the conditions his daughter was being detained under, in St Andrew's Hospital. His daughter was being kept in a 12 ft by 10 ft room, with a mattress and chair, with family members being forced to communicate with her via a hole in the metal door, which she was also being fed through. An earlier assessment had concluded that “the current setting is not able to satisfactorily meet her individual care needs” and a recommendation was made suggesting she be moved to a residential setting in the community with high support, but she continued to remain in the conditions, whilst her father was forced to defend legal action taken by Walsall Council to stop him publicly discussing his daughter and the conditions she was being detained under, at St Andrew's Hospital. St Andrew's Chief Executive, Katie Fisher, has spoken publicly about the challenges the hospital faces when discharging patients, as there is a lack of suitable community places for people to move on to. In May 2019, Fisher told the BBC that the organisation "has up to 50 patients stuck in secure units".

Notable patients

Malcolm Arnold Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music ...

, British composer *

Frank Bruno Franklin Roy Bruno, (born 16 November 1961) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1996. He had a highly publicised and eventful career, both in and out of the ring. The pinnacle of Bruno's boxing career was winning ...

, boxer *

John Clare John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th ce ...

, the "Northamptonshire peasant poet" * Frank Foster, Warwickshire and England cricketer *

Violet Gibson Violet Albina Gibson (31 August 1876 – 2 May 1956) was an Irish woman who attempted to assassinate Benito Mussolini in 1926. She was released without charge but spent the rest of her life in a psychiatric hospital in England. She was the daug ...

, Irish woman who shot

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

* Josef Hassid, the Polish violinist *

Lucia Joyce Lucia Anna Joyce (26 July 1907, Trieste – 12 December 1982, Northampton) was a professional dancer and the daughter of Irish writer James Joyce and Nora Barnacle. Once treated by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, Joyce was diagnosed as schizophr ...

, daughter of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

, stayed here from 1951 until her death in 1982 * The Ven. David Roberts,

Archdeacon of Monmouth The Diocese of Monmouth is a diocese of the Church in Wales. Despite the name, its cathedral is located not in Monmouth but in Newport — the Cathedral Church of St Woolos. Reasons for not choosing the title of Newport included the existence o ...

from 1926 to 1930 *

George Gilbert Scott junior George Gilbert Scott Jr. (8 October 1839 – 6 May 1897) was an English architect working in late Gothic and Queen Anne revival styles. Known in later life as 'Middle Scott', he was the eldest son of Sir Gilbert Scott (George Gilbert Scott), a ...

, architect (son of the designer of the chapel) *

Gladys Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough Gladys Marie Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (''née'' Deacon; 7 February 1881 – 13 October 1977) was a French American aristocrat and socialite. She was the mistress and later the second wife of Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th ...

, spent her last 15 years of life in the hospital *

James Kenneth Stephen James Kenneth Stephen (25 February 1859 – 3 February 1892) was an English poet, and tutor to Prince Albert Victor, eldest son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. Early life James Kenneth Stephen was the second son of Sir James Fitzjame ...

, poet

References

Sources

* {{authority control Private hospitals in the United Kingdom Hospital buildings completed in 1838 Psychiatric hospitals in England Hospitals in Northampton