St Andrew's Hospital
Encyclopedia
St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton
, England is a psychiatric hospital run by a non-profit-making, charitable trust. It is by far the largest mental health facility in UK, providing national specialist services for adolescents, men, women and older people with mental illness, learning disability, brain injury, autism and dementia (patients suffering from Brain Injury, severe Autism or Dementia are treated in dedicated units due to their specialised care needs). The organisation only caters for Patients requiring Low to Medium-secure accommodation and has a primary focus on rehabilitation, as opposed to psychopharmacology, as a means of treating Mental Illness and easing psychological suffering. The charity also has hospitals in Essex and Birmingham, and opened a new unit in Nottinghamshire in 2010.
As of 2010, the organisation employs over 3,000 people across the United Kingdom and receives over 95% of its revenue (and patients) from the UK's National Health Service through referrals from NHS Commissioners.
St Andrew's has the capacity to cater for around 600 patients across its various sites, but is in a period of rapid expansion and this capacity is likely to increase dramatically over the next few years.
The hospital was built on land once owned by the Cluniac Priory of St Andrew's. Donations were given for the establishment of a building for the "care of the insane" including from the funds of the disbanded Northamptonshire Yeomanry
and a gift from the second Earl Spencer
.
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. The asylum was originally intended to house 70 patients, "private and pauper", and was made a charitable trust. By the mid 1840s St Andrew's was caring for over 260 people; by 1860 this had risen to 317 and five years later to 414; in 1869 there were 40 nurses and attendants caring for 450 patients.
In 1876, a separate County Asylum for pauper patients was opened and the original County General Lunatic Asylum changed its name to Northampton General Lunatic Asylum for the Middle and Upper Classes. The asylum was renamed St Andrew's Hospital in 1887.
At the foundation of the National Health Service
, St Andrew's sought exemption and was one of four Registered Hospitals allowed to function outside the NHS, maintaining its charitable status.
Many of the hospital buildings enjoy Listed Building status including the Hospital Chapel which was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott
and opened in 1863.
St Andrew's Hospital, Northampton: The First One Hundred and Fifty Years, 1838-1988 Foss, Arthur & Trick, Kerith (Granta 1989)
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
, England is a psychiatric hospital run by a non-profit-making, charitable trust. It is by far the largest mental health facility in UK, providing national specialist services for adolescents, men, women and older people with mental illness, learning disability, brain injury, autism and dementia (patients suffering from Brain Injury, severe Autism or Dementia are treated in dedicated units due to their specialised care needs). The organisation only caters for Patients requiring Low to Medium-secure accommodation and has a primary focus on rehabilitation, as opposed to psychopharmacology, as a means of treating Mental Illness and easing psychological suffering. The charity also has hospitals in Essex and Birmingham, and opened a new unit in Nottinghamshire in 2010.
As of 2010, the organisation employs over 3,000 people across the United Kingdom and receives over 95% of its revenue (and patients) from the UK's National Health Service through referrals from NHS Commissioners.
St Andrew's has the capacity to cater for around 600 patients across its various sites, but is in a period of rapid expansion and this capacity is likely to increase dramatically over the next few years.
History
The Northamptonshire County General Lunatic Asylum, founded by public subscription, opened to "private and pauper lunatics" on 1 August 1838.The hospital was built on land once owned by the Cluniac Priory of St Andrew's. Donations were given for the establishment of a building for the "care of the insane" including from the funds of the disbanded Northamptonshire Yeomanry
Northamptonshire Yeomanry
The Northamptonshire Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army formed in 1794 as volunteer cavalry, it later served in an armoured role before being reduced to squadron level in 1956...
and a gift from the second Earl Spencer
George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer
George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer KG PC FRS FSA , styled Viscount Althorp from 1765 to 1783, was a British Whig politician...
.
Thomas Octavius Prichard
Thomas Octavius Prichard
Thomas Octavius Prichard was an English psychiatrist, one of the earliest advocates of "moral management", the humane treatment of the mentally ill....
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. The asylum was originally intended to house 70 patients, "private and pauper", and was made a charitable trust. By the mid 1840s St Andrew's was caring for over 260 people; by 1860 this had risen to 317 and five years later to 414; in 1869 there were 40 nurses and attendants caring for 450 patients.
In 1876, a separate County Asylum for pauper patients was opened and the original County General Lunatic Asylum changed its name to Northampton General Lunatic Asylum for the Middle and Upper Classes. The asylum was renamed St Andrew's Hospital in 1887.
At the foundation of the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
, St Andrew's sought exemption and was one of four Registered Hospitals allowed to function outside the NHS, maintaining its charitable status.
Many of the hospital buildings enjoy Listed Building status including the Hospital Chapel which was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott
George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses...
and opened in 1863.
Notable patients
- Sir Malcolm ArnoldMalcolm ArnoldSir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...
, British composer - John ClareJohn ClareJohn Clare was an English poet, born the son of a farm labourer who came to be known for his celebratory representations of the English countryside and his lamentation of its disruption. His poetry underwent a major re-evaluation in the late 20th century and he is often now considered to be among...
, the "Northamptonshire peasant poet" spent his last 23 years in the Hospital and was given freedom to wander round the town and local area. The John Clare unit of the hospital is named after him - Violet GibsonViolet GibsonHon. Violet Albina Gibson , the daughter of the 1st Lord Ashbourne, is best known for shooting Benito Mussolini in Rome in 1926....
who shot Mussolini - Josef HassidJosef HassidJosef Hassid was a Polish violinist.Born 28 December 1923 in Suwałki, Poland, as Joseph or Józef Chasyd, second youngest of four children, he lost his mother when he was ten and was brought up by his father Owseij who took charge of his career.After lessons with a local violin teacher he studied...
, the Polish violinist - Lucia JoyceLucia JoyceLucia Anna Joyce was the daughter of Irish writer James Joyce and Nora Barnacle.Italian was her first language and the language in which she corresponded with her father. She studied ballet while she was a teenager, becoming good enough to train with Isadora Duncan...
, daughter of James JoyceJames JoyceJames Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
, stayed here from 1951 until her death in 1982 - George Gilbert Scott junior, architect (son of the designer of the chapel)
- James Kenneth StephenJames Kenneth StephenJames Kenneth Stephen was an English poet, and tutor to Prince Albert Victor, eldest son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales.-Early life:...
, poet
External links
St Andrew's Hospital, Northampton: The First One Hundred and Fifty Years, 1838-1988 Foss, Arthur & Trick, Kerith (Granta 1989)