Broadmoor Hospital - Misconceiving IT As A Prison

Misconceiving It As A Prison

Because of the outside appearance of the buildings, especially its high walls and other visible security features, and the inaccurate news reporting it has in the past received, it is occasionally presumed by some members of the general public that Broadmoor Hospital is a prison. Many of its patients are indeed referred to it by the criminal justice system, and its original design brief incorporated an essence of addressing criminality in addition to mental illness; however, the layout inside and the daily routine are designed to assist the therapy practiced there rather than to meet the criteria necessary for it to be run along the lines of a prison in its daily functions. Nearly all staff were members of the Prison Officers Association, as opposed to the health service unions like UNISON.

Jimmy Noak, Broadmoor's director of nursing, in response to claims that criminals were being given unfairly pleasant treatment in the facility, commented, "It's not fair, but what is the alternative? If these people committed crimes because they were suffering from an acute mental illness then they should be in hospital."