Maudsley Hospital - History

History

The hospital is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, provider of an extensive portfolio of mental health services in the United Kingdom, and a research institute working in partnership with the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London.

The Maudsley dates from 1907, when Dr Henry Maudsley offered London County Council £30,000 (subsequently increased to £40,000) to help found a new mental hospital that would:

1. be exclusively for early and acute cases,
2. have an out-patients' clinic,
3. provide for teaching and research.

During World War I the hospital was a war hospital, not opening as a mental health resource until 1923. It remains notable that a specific Act of Parliament had to be obtained (1915) to allow the institution to accept voluntary patients.

The Maudsley was returned to the control of London County Council after the First World War, and finally opened in February 1923. Its nursing staff comprised a matron, assistant matron, six sisters and 19 staff nurses with at least three years general hospital training, supported by 23 probationers and 12 male nurses. It had a good reputation for training nurses and some applicants even travelled overseas to train there. A report (held at Bethlem's Archives & Museum) from a nurse who trained at the Maudsley shows some of the work of a new trainee: "Apart from observation and simple treatment, nurses are trained in special investigations and therapy. They carry out many of the routine psychometric tests, help as technicians in the ward laboratories, and are instructors in occupational therapy".

The 1920s and 30s saw a rapid growth in the number of patients treated. Originally, there was no provision for the treatment of children and the rapid growth in this patient population was unforeseen. In 1928, a child guidance clinic was set up under the directorship of Dr William Moodie, the deputy medical superintendent. The Children's Department was promoted as an example of the value of teamwork: 'psychiatrists to diagnose and to prescribe, psychologists for mental testing, social workers to deal with the environmental side and voluntary workers to observe the activities of the children in the play room'. The demand for these services led to the construction of a dedicated building where children were seen as outpatients. In 1947 a dedicated inpatient unit for children was opened.