Talk:Leavesden Hospital

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Learning Disabilities or Psychiatric asylum?

This page and it's categorisation suggests that it was a psychiatric hospital, but it wasn't. Leavesden started life as an asylum for imbeciles (using the Victorian definition of low IQ) and in the 1980s was still a hospital for people with mental handicap / learning difficulties. Although some treated there had psychiatric conditions secondary to LD, most patients had Down syndrome, not a psychiatric illness Ianmurray5 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:23, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

Ianmurray5, do you have any sources for that fact? Cabayi (talk) 19:34, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

Reply: Well the initial clue is in the name 'Metropolitan Asylum for Chronic Imbeciles' An imbecile being a diagnosis given to someone of low intelligence, IQ less than 50, and not a psychiatric condition. The word 'Asylum' used at this time described a place of safety, care and treatment and was used to describe even the Chalfont epileptic colony.

• In the 1980s, my wife worked at Leavesden rehabilitating people with LD back to Ealing and I worked as a psychiatric nurse for Ealing at both Springfield and Hanwell. This was a time when the NHS was pushing 'long-stay patients' out into the community because government (Thatcher/Major) had (wrongly) thought it to be cheaper, both our jobs involved helping long-term patients from Ealing to leave hospital and live in a shared house in Ealing. It wasn't cruel, the shared houses were friendship groups and in some cases couples living and/or choosing to sleep together. Historically people of Ealing who had psychiatric conditions were treated at Springfield and those with LD were treated at Leavesden, the distance deliberately to reduce visitors from upsetting patients. At that time all patients at Leavesden had LD and the staff were all primarily LD trained and not psychiatric trained (unless dual qualified).
• Reference 1 in the article page, Lost hospitals of London: states that in 1873 "mental handicapped children" were moved to their own asylum, but continues to state that TB patients, general elderly, eye patients and psychiatric patients were also admitted at various times. It looks like as people with LD reduced in number, probably from better obstetric care, the hospital became underused and was redeployed for many things and over many years. By 1950 it again became a hospital purely for LD.
• Reference 2, Workhouses.org: states that Leavesden was built for 'Quiet & harmless imbeciles'.

In conclusion, I feel that Leavesden was built and used primarily as an asylum / hospital for LD, and used secondarily for other conditions (psychiatric, TB, eyes etc.) when it was underused. Ianmurray5 (talk) 20:49, 22 June 2020 (UTC)