Silent Minority part 6

Silent Minority, aired on british television June 1981. The documentary spotlights alledgedly appalling conditions at Borocourt Hospital, Reading, Berks and St Lawrences Hospital Caterham, Surrey.

St Lawrences Hospital

In 1974, the hospital came to public attention with the publication of the book Tongue Tied by Joseph ('Joey') John Deacon who had been a patient at the hospital since the age of eight in 1928. This was followed by the TV documentary Silent Minority in which the hospital featured in an unfavourable light.

The documentary brought out strong feelings at the time given the content which in one scene shows a child tied to a pole in a ward.

www.highroydshospital.co.uk

Category:

Education

Tags:

• St Lawrence hospital
• silent minority
• Caterham Mental Hospital
• high royds

[oilpatchgirl]

Sad, disturbing and outstanding. No political will to spend money on these poor people. This is unfortunately evidenced by the very low view count. Let's face it, population at large is content to turn a blind eye to the warehousing of our fellow humans.

[ozisalegend]

Thank you so much for posting this. Even if only a small number of paople watch it they will be made aware of the plight of people with an intellectual disability that still happens today.

[Miss65boo]

Now those who are cognitively impaired live in the community with assistance if they have the funding, but in my state the funding for new development has stopped, so those young people turning 18 have nothing. They and their families are put on a waiting list, hoping for funding. We have young consumers who need 24/7 staffing and there is nothing we can do. There are some who face homelessness because of a lack of funding, and no one cares.

[jb55101]

this was in 1981 and i am deaf and i stayed in place called willowbrook in the usa what pisse sme off is there was deaf school's then and me and him where stuck in a hospital. if your deaf and u have no way to comunacate then u are going to act out.

[Miss65boo]

People with cognitive impairments have always had the short end of the stick when it comes to public funding. In the past it was large, underfunded institutions, now it is small, underfunded agencies trying to care for people in the community. And every year funding gets cut more and more. Why? Because they don't vote and most people only think of keeping their money in their own pocket, rather then helping those less fortunate.

[theotherstuffguys]

the program shows the failurs of the pst and present health system , the very fact that the child , the person , is alowed to sit and distroy their mental health is a sad and true fact , the words human injustes apply here and i hope , and hope that everyone watching will join me in saying , these people should not be left like this and the people like around the world should get the care they need for them , not for us or staff , the mental people need help , not left in a room to rot.

[lexichronicle2]

Well, since a lot of us are here from Panorama, and have now just watched that, do a search for "The Strangest Village in Britain" to see a different approach; housing a large number of disturbed people in a gated community.

[silverjunky]

@NathanF11989 Most of them were moved into the community in the late 70's and 80's, mainly due to a large shift in society's perspective on people with learning dis/mental health problems, I think partially affected by these types of programs. Many of them live in smaller 4-6 bed houses, usually with people of similar levels of ability, and with dedicated staff teams. Very similar in effect to the spastics society home shown here. JUst updated and modernised. We try our best as staff. x

[stuartpatto1976]

probably dead. some of them anyway. god bless them all.

[NathanF11989]

I wonder how these children are doing now.

[elderpark]

- with the extra worn load.

I work with mentally disordered offenders in a ward that us often understaffed with a huge workload.

Daily staff go without breaks to get things done. Nurses are demoralised as mistakes do happen and it's automatically the staffs fault- not the system.

I've been complaining to MPs for years.. If your outraged at this programme and panorama.. Then YOU complain too.

But I guarantee.... Nothing will change.

[elderpark]

- them.

Yeah there is a recession and money has to be saved... But targeting the vulnerable is not the answer.

The general public are up in arms at the thought of how disabled groups are forced to live... I've worked in these old institutions and the scary thing is.. They could have worked with better nurse patient ratios, better equipment, training and facilities.. But each and every government since this broadcast has cut NHS budgets with no thought of how diminished staff numbers will cope w