Over 20 patients in 3 wards were affected over a 4 week period. ibid.
27-year-old Rebecca Leighton is a local woman working as a nurse … The Crown Prosecution Service announced that the case against her has been discontinued; despite this, Rebecca is suspended by Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and eventually sacked for stealing medication. ibid.
‘A 46 year old male nurse has been arrested on suspicion of tampering with medical records.’ ibid. local news
‘He [Victorino Chua] called himself the Angel of Death.’ ibid. prosecutor
He’s jailed for Life with a minimum term of 35 years. ibid.
Broadmoor – a place with a sinister past that’s synonymous with some of the country’s most notorious offenders. Professor David Wilson, Broadmoor: A History of the Criminally Insane I, CI 2013
The Victorians used to be proud of Broadmoor. ibid.
There are about 260 patients living in Broadmoor. ibid.
The killer Richard Dadd – a prominent nineteenth-century artist. Dadd murdered his own father on 28th August 1843: he was declared insane. ibid.
Children were sent there too. ibid.
The McNaughton rule was born, and for forty years defendants suffering from mental illness were deemed not guilty by reason of insanity. ibid.
Insanity: an inability to reason because of mental illness. Insanity has a wide reach. ibid.
As Queen Victoria’s reign came to an end the numbers of female patients was close to 200. ibid.
Psychiatric therapies were continuing to be developed. ibid.
Can mental illness and human nature ever really be governed? ibid.
Broadmoor: a word that makes people shiver. Most think that Broadmoor is a prison: in fact it’s a high-secure psychiatric hospital and home to some of the country’s most dangerous and violent offenders. Broadmoor: Inside Britain’s Highest Security Mental Hospital, ITV
Many won’t even admit to working here. ibid.
Many of the men here have been front-page news. ibid.
This is Cranfield – the intensive care ward. ibid.
All of the men in Broadmoor present a grave and immediately risk to the public … They have no release date. ibid.
Broadmoor can feel like a ghost town. ibid.
The reminder of the threat of violence is ever-present. ibid.
‘Cut my own throat a couple of times.’ ibid. ‘Alex’
Food is the only thing they have free rein over. ibid.
It costs £300,000 a year to keep a patient in Broadmoor. ibid.
Whenever force is used, staff take time out to re-appraise. On average there are five physical assaults a week on staff. ibid.
Broadmoor is home to 200 men, each carefully assigned to one of fifteen wards. ibid.
After many critical reports the government sent in new managers to reform the hospital. Inside Broadmoor, 2002
In 2000 Broadmoor used arm and leg shackles as part of the treatment for a mentally retarded man. ibid.
It costs £60 million a year and has 1,200 staff. ibid.
Broadmoor let Dadd have a studio. ibid.
When a patient escaped the local schools were closed. ibid.
‘Three pairs of size ten boots started to go into me.’ ibid. ex-patient
People still had to slop out. ibid.
After the allegations of the 1980s the government set up the Mental Health Act Commission to protect patients’ rights. ibid.
We’ve talked to seven ex-patients: all complain of neglect or abuse. ibid.
Seclusion is still a problem we discovered. ibid.
Almost a million people in the UK have heart failure. Another 900,000 have damaged hearts but don’t know it. And the number is rising. For the worst affected their only option might be a heart transplant. But Britain is now facing a critical shortage of donor hearts. Exposure s1e3: The Heart Hospital, ITV 2011
117Great Ormond Street Hospital for children is a national treasure. Its motto: The child first and always … But some senior consultants from leading hospitals are concerned doctors of one department [gastroenterology] have been wrongly diagnosing some children and giving them aggressive treatment they didn’t need. Exposure: Great Ormond Street: The Child First & Always? ITV 2018
NHS hospitals treat over a quarter of a million of us every day. Open 24/7 hospitals help begin life, save life, and provide care when life ends. If you think hospitals are kept running by doctors and nurses, think again … Maintenance is a matter of life and death. The Secret Life of the Hospital, Channel 5 2018
The NHS has 1.7 million staff making it the biggest employer in Europe. ibid.
A place we never see – the blood sciences lab … Across the UK, 300,000 patients are tested every day. ibid.
The danger of infection is present on every hospital ward. ibid.
Staff need ten sets of linen per bed. ibid.
Gosport Memorial Hospital: How could hundreds of patients be killed in one small British hospital? All these people had their lives shortened in a place they went to get help. We hear from those who tried to stop the killing. For the first time we call people to account. Panorama: Killed in Hospital, BBC 2019
The hidden secrets that some NHS hospitals are keeping from us. Transparency is key to keeping patients safe. But warnings about patient safety are being kept from the public. Panorama has uncovered dozens of expert reports highlighting serious concerns about patient care. Panorama: Hospital Secrets Uncovered, BBC 2021
Escalating bombardment has cost countless human lives transforming the streets into battlefields. Moving from place to place is a deadly act. Millions have already fled, desperate to survive. But 400,000 people remain trapped in eastern al-Ghouta. There is no way out. The Cave, National Geographic 2020, captions
‘The idea of moving underground was simple. As simple as the death lurking on the surface. The cause of that death is clear and simple too. As simple as the urge to survive. As a doctor I have witnessed many tragedies. So much suffering. So many lies. It made us search for a way to survive. ibid.
A chance for these prisoners to reach the last bastion of hope: an underground hospital called The Cave. ibid.
‘Let’s keep smiling for the children. That is the least we can do.’ ibid.
We all know someone who has struggled with their mental health. Over the next three weeks I’ll see what life is like on a hectic mental health ward. Speaking to patients on the edge and the staff trained to help them. To see how tough life is on both sides of the glass. Stacey Dooley: On the Psych Ward, BBC 2020
On the 30th of October 2015 a fire breaks out during a concert in the Colectiv club in Bucharest. It instantly kills 27 youngsters and injures another 180. Outraged by the fact that the popular club was functioning without fire exits, people take to the streets against the corrupt authorities. Massive nationwide protests force the Social Democrat Government to resign. To calm the people’s fury a politically independent Government of technocrats is appointed. It receives a one-year mandate until the next general elections. 37 more burn victims die in hospitals during the four months after the Colectiv fire. Storyville: Collective: Unravelling a Scandal, captions, BBC 2021
‘The burn patients were kept in a known septic environment, and exposed to some of the most resistant hospital bacteria in Europe.’ ibid. journalist
Home to some of Britain’s most dangerous men. Some have thrived there while others have suffered. This is the story of Broadmoor and five of its most notorious patients told by those who worked with patients there. Broadmoor: Serial Killers & High Security, Channel 5 2021
Broadmoor: it looks like a prison but is in fact a secure mental hospital. For over 150 years it has been home to those judged too dangerous to live in the outside world. And since 2019 it has been even more secure with a new custom-built hospital complex. There is only one way in and out. ibid.
Long-term patient Peter Sutcliffe was allowed four visitors per week, and they were often pen-pals who he had persuaded to meet him in person … ‘Sutcliffe always had with him a couple of young women, different women every time, always holding his hands and stroking his hands; it was very very strange.’ ibid. Fred Dinenage
Michael Peterson [Bronson] began what should have been a seven year prison sentence in 1974, but his crime on the outside would pale in comparison to the wave of violent assaults he would unleash behind bars … Bronson would turn his rage on Broadmoor itself. ibid.
Spot the difference: NHS hospitals have just been hit with a 21% rise in their Business Rates. This will just add to the financial pressures the NHS is already facing.
Meanwhile, private hospitals are allowed to register as a charity saving them up to 80% on their Business Rates. Lucy Woods tweet 30th March 2023