St Andrew's Hospital

This article is about the psychiatric hospital in Northampton, England. For other hospitals of this name, see St Andrew's Hospital (disambiguation).

St Andrews Hospital is a mental health facility in Northampton, England. It is managed by St Andrew's Healthcare.

St Andrew's Hospital
St Andrew's Healthcare
St Andrews Hospital
Shown in Northamptonshire
Geography
Location	Northampton, Northamptonshire, England
Coordinates	52°14′17″N 0°52′26″W / 52.238°N 0.874°W / 52.238; -0.874
Organisation
Care system	Private
Type	Specialised
Affiliated university	University of Northampton
Services
History
Opened	1838
Links
Website	www.stah.org
Lists	Hospitals in England

History

Formation

 

Engraving of Northampton General Lunatic Asylum, 1849

The facility was founded by public subscription for "private and pauper lunatics" and opened as the Northampton General Lunatic Asylum on 1 August 1838.^[1] 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.^[2] The chapel was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and opened in 1863.^[3]

It became St Andrew's Hospital for Mental Diseases in the 1930s^[1] and elected to remain a charity rather than joining the National Health Service in 1948.^[4]

Controversies

Dispatches exposure

In 2017, Channel 4 Dispatches aired Under Lock and Key,^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^[7] After the programme's broadcast, St Andrew's issued a statement refuting the allegations that appeared in the programme.^[8]

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 to protect them from harming themselves. The film, made by Dragonfly Film and Television,^[9] won a Mind Media Award.^[10]

Walsall Council legal action

In 2018, the father of a girl who has autism and anxiety 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.^[11]

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".^[12]

Notable patients

• Malcolm Arnold, British composer^[13]
• Frank Bruno, boxer^[14]
• John Clare, the "Northamptonshire peasant poet"^[15]
• Louis de Zoysa, convicted of the 2020 murder of Matt Ratana, a Metropolitan Police sergeant^[16]
• Frank Foster, Warwickshire and England cricketer^[17]
• Violet Gibson, Irish woman who shot Mussolini^[18]
• Josef Hassid, the Polish violinist^[19]
• Lucia Joyce, daughter of James Joyce, stayed here from 1951 until her death in 1982^[20]
• The Ven. David Roberts, Archdeacon of Monmouth from 1926 to 1930^[21]
• George Gilbert Scott junior, architect (son of the designer of the chapel)^[22]
• Gladys Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, spent her last 15 years of life in the hospital^[23]
• James Kenneth Stephen, poet^[24]

References

1. "St Andrew's Hospital". National Archives. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
2. Foss, p. 28
3. Historic England. "Chapel, St Andrew's Hospital (1039745)". National Heritage List for England.
4. "St Andrew's Healthcare in plan for £52m Northampton unit". BBC. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
5. "Channel 4 Dispatches". Rethink Mental Illness. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
6. "Channel 4 Broadcast Dispatches Under Lock and Key". The Challenging Behaviour Foundation. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
7. Doward, Jamie (6 July 2013). "Call for inquiry into deaths of four men at psychiatric hospital". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
8. "Northampton mental health hospital speaks out after Channel Four documentary". www.northamptonchron.co.uk. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
9. "Dragonfly". www.dragonfly.tv. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
10. "Winners of the Virgin Money Giving Mind Media Awards 2018 revealed". www.mind.org.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
11. Social Affairs Editor, Greg Hurst (13 October 2018). "Father beats legal bid to silence him over autistic girl in hospital 'cell'". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 13 October 2018. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
12. Phillips, Noel (23 May 2019). "Up to 50 patients stuck in secure units". Retrieved 14 November 2019.
13. "Obituary: Sir Malcolm Arnold". The Guardian. 25 September 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
14. "Boxing hero Frank Bruno has spoken out about his time in St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton". Northampton Chronicle. 14 October 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
15. Page, William. "'The borough of Northampton: Description', in A History of the County of Northampton". London, 1930: British History Online. pp. 30–40. Retrieved 19 October 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
16. "Sgt Matiu Ratana: Man denies murdering Met Police officer". BBC News. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
17. Stephen Brenkley (14 May 2011). "Sad story of Frank Foster, Ashes hero that time forgot". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
18. "Mussolini's nose". Retrieved 8 July 2014.
19. "Josef Hassid". psychosurgery.org. 1 July 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
20. Sean O'Hagan (16 May 2004). "Private dancer". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
21. 'Obituary' The Times London, England Tuesday, Aug. 27, 1935 Issue 47153 p13
22. Jonathan Glancey (9 December 2002). "The man between". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
23. "Gladys, Duchess of Marlborough: the aristocrat with attitude". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
24. "James Kenneth Stephen". University of Toronto - Representative Poetry Online. 15 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine

Sources

• Foss, Arthur; Trick, Kerith Lloyd Kinsey (1989), St. Andrew's Hospital Northampton: the first 150 years, 1838-1988, Granta Editions, ISBN 0906782449