St Andrews Hospital is a mental health facility in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, England. It is managed by St Andrew's Healthcare.

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 was appointed as the hospital's first medical superintendent: he was one of the pioneers of " moral management", 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), largely 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 ...

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 term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

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, sold under the brand name Clozaril among others, is a psychiatric medication and was the first atypical antipsychotic to be discovered. It is used primarily to treat people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder who have ...

. 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 me ...

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

Mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

Media Award.

Walsall Council legal action

In 2018, the father of a girl who has

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

and

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

won a court case against Walsall Council, 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 f ...

, British composer * Frank Bruno, 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 his sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20t ...

, the "Northamptonshire peasant poet" * Louis de Zoysa, convicted of the 2020 murder of Matt Ratana, a Metropolitan Police sergeant * Frank Foster, Warwickshire and England cricketer * Violet Gibson, Irish woman who shot

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his overthrow in 194 ...

* Josef Hassid, the Polish violinist * Lucia Joyce, daughter of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta 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 influentia ...

, stayed here from 1951 until her death in 1982 * The Ven. David Roberts, Archdeacon of Monmouth from 1926 to 1930 * George Gilbert Scott junior, architect (son of the designer of the chapel) * Gladys Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, spent her last 15 years of life in the hospital * James Kenneth Stephen, poet

References

Sources

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