Working with Women in Special Hospitals

Abstract

This is an edited version of a conversation that took place between myself and four other clinical psychologists who had been actively involved in developing better services for women living in Ashworth and Rampton hospitals - two of the three high security psychiatric hospitals in England. There have been long-standing concerns about the quality of the services provided by these Special Hospitals,1 and a public inquiry2 in 1992 identified services to women as a particular cause for concern. This inquiry was followed by a period of optimism during which time these psychologists had worked hard to improve services to women in the Special Hospitals. We met in late 1996 to talk about their frustrations and disappointments, to learn from their experiences, and to remember the women who live in these hospitals. This was not an easy conversation, and it was also limited by a pending tribunal and the ever present threat of legal action. The Special Hospitals have continued to feature in news headlines, and their future is being publicly debated. We want this debate to be informed by an understanding of the ways in which Special Hospitals continue to fail women. There is nothing to suggest that they provide women with what they need, or that they are likely to do so in the future. The development of better community mental health services is the only way forward.