© Copyright Keith Havercroft and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
I'VE been writing a lot about mental health lately on our Breaking the Silence blog as well as for the magazine One in Four.
This has largely involved helping people tell their stories of mental distress.
Posts by Suzie Grogan about her family history and Deerbaby who wrote about a fleeting moment etched on her memory inspired me to find out more about an institution I mentioned in our recent carnival of blog posts about mental illness.
And I've discovered half a story. It's the sort of story the me of 15-20 years ago would have jumped on. I may still do that. Perhaps I could pull a more in-depth report together.
Services at the psychiatric hospital in the town where I grew up are under review. The hospital was something me and my friends grew up making jokes about, and my mum in her then customary fashion, explained to me when I was a child, it was for people "who had a bath with their clothes on."
But I never knew that in Feb 1969 24 patients died in a fire there.
They were locked in, despite a previous change in the law that said patients shouldn't be. Most of the patients died from smoke inhalation.
An accident investigation found no night staff had been trained in fire evacuation procedures for at least 20 years despite urgent calls for such training six years earlier. There was a delay of 10 minutes between a nurse first noticing smoke and calling the fire brigade. The report also found that staffing at the hospital was "on the low side".
I'm thinking I'd like to go to my home town and see the local coverage that followed, track down relatives of people who died and see what they remember of what happened and what action, if any they took after the fire.
The 24 patients who died were described as elderly women. Things were said to be made worse by the age of the building, referred to in the Hansard report of questions on the subject in the immediate aftermath as “Constructed 14 years before the Indian Mutiny,” and by the fact that women patients were routinely locked in their ward at night.
Staffing was also questioned after the event – only two qualified nurses and a junior to oversee almost 100 severely mentally ill women, some of whom couldn't move from their beds.
Questions were asked in the House of Commons about the fire and fire reporting was reviewed in the wake of the tragedy.
I find this fascinating.
But I never knew that in Feb 1969 24 patients died in a fire there.
They were locked in, despite a previous change in the law that said patients shouldn't be. Most of the patients died from smoke inhalation.
An accident investigation found no night staff had been trained in fire evacuation procedures for at least 20 years despite urgent calls for such training six years earlier. There was a delay of 10 minutes between a nurse first noticing smoke and calling the fire brigade. The report also found that staffing at the hospital was "on the low side".
I'm thinking I'd like to go to my home town and see the local coverage that followed, track down relatives of people who died and see what they remember of what happened and what action, if any they took after the fire.
The 24 patients who died were described as elderly women. Things were said to be made worse by the age of the building, referred to in the Hansard report of questions on the subject in the immediate aftermath as “Constructed 14 years before the Indian Mutiny,” and by the fact that women patients were routinely locked in their ward at night.
Staffing was also questioned after the event – only two qualified nurses and a junior to oversee almost 100 severely mentally ill women, some of whom couldn't move from their beds.
Questions were asked in the House of Commons about the fire and fire reporting was reviewed in the wake of the tragedy.
I find this fascinating.
And I think I'd like to know more.
Me too - finish your story please. x
Posted by: MuddynoSugar | September 26, 2010 at 07:00 PM
Wow, Linda. This is really fascinating. Those poor women - I suspect one of the reasons they were locked in is the shocking staff ratio. It is further proof that those with mental health problems (and none of us know how or why these women came to be in there)were treated as less than human. I think you should do the research you need to tell the other half of the story..
Posted by: Suzie Grogan | September 26, 2010 at 08:38 PM
What a fascinating tragic story. I do hope you investigate more. I've just finished reading the Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'farrell. After I posted the story of the lost Sarah, someone recommended it to me in the comments. It is totally gripping - about a girl of 16 being incarcerated in an asylum for nothing - at a time when a husband or parents could just do that without any reason - if the woman was particularly wilful or liked taking long walks or read too many books or didn't want to get married. A really moving story.
Posted by: Deer Baby | September 27, 2010 at 11:53 AM
Thanks for all your encouragement, I'm hoping to plan some time to make this happen. That book sounds heartbreaking, I will order it I think. x
Posted by: Linda | September 27, 2010 at 02:53 PM