Silent Minority | |
---|---|
Directed by | Nigel Evans |
Written by | Nigel Evans |
Produced by | Nigel Evans |
Narrated by | Nigel Evans |
Cinematography | Alan Jones Ron Conley |
Edited by | Peter Cannon |
Production company | Colour Productions |
Distributed by | Associated Television |
Release date |
|
Running time | 60 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Silent Minority is a 1981 British documentary film made by Nigel Evans for ATV which aired in June 1981 [1] on ITV. [2] The film spotlights the conditions of mental patients at the Borocourt Hospital near Reading, Berkshire and the St Lawrence Hospital in Caterham, Surrey. [1] [3] [4] [5]
Part polemic, part narrative, it came just before the transitioning of the British mental health system from an asylum-based system to one of care in the community.
It was reported in Glasgow Herald that British health officials protested release of the documentary, and that Health Minister Sir George Young attacked the film as not being a true representation of such hospitals. ATV announced making changes to the film's commentary due to these protests, and Charles Denton of ATV stated that film director Nigel Evans admitted that hospital administrators were deceived during the project's filming, but stated that such deception was "in the public interest". Evans had been granted access to the facilities and was allowed to shoot individual patients only if he obtained consent of their family members. When some families did not consent, Evans destroyed six reels of footage, but health officials determined he deliberately concealed other footage. These officials granted that the film footage was accurate, but complained that the narration was not, thus resulting in ATV modifying the commentary. [1] After the film's airing, it was reported that the film had already raised controversy and that it might have been seen as too "harrowing" by some viewers. Objections were raised based upon Health Ministry statements that the film presented a slanted viewpoint, but there was concession that even if the film's examples were not typical, it was believed that they were "unlikely to be the only exceptions to an otherwise admirable system" and, even if atypical, that they exist at all "is a matter of grave concern." Producer/director Nigel Evans was praised for the film's conclusions showing that the issues can be addressed, ATV for the film's creation, and IBA for refusing to ban it. [6]
Controversy about the film reached the British Parliament, with questions in the House addressed to Norman Fowler, Secretary of State for Social Services. [7] Fowler, while appreciating that the film drew attention to the plight of handicapped patients within the British health system, felt that concentrating "its attention on certain categories of the most severely handicapped", gave an "unrepresentative picture both of the two hospitals and of the care given by National Health Service staff to mentally handicapped people in general." But he expanded that the concerns brought forward by the film were being addressed through the creation of smaller facilities better able to address patients' needs. [8]
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. It is the oldest of England's three high-security psychiatric hospitals, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire. The hospital's catchment area consists of four National Health Service regions: London, Eastern, South East and South West. It is managed by the West London NHS Trust.
St. Ita's Hospital is a mental health facility in Portrane in the north of County Dublin in Ireland.
Rampton Secure Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital near the village of Woodbeck between Retford and Rampton in Nottinghamshire, England. It is one of three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, alongside Ashworth Hospital in Merseyside and Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire. It is managed by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Care in the Community is a British policy of deinstitutionalisation, treating and caring for physically and mentally disabled people in their homes rather than in an institution. Institutional care was the target of widespread criticism during the 1960s and 1970s, but it was not until 1983 that the government of Margaret Thatcher adopted a new policy of care after the Audit Commission published a report called 'Making a Reality of Community Care' which outlined the advantages of domiciliary care.
The name National Health Service (NHS) is used to refer to the publicly funded health care services of England, Scotland and Wales, individually or collectively. Northern Ireland's services are known as 'Health and Social Care' to promote its dual integration of health and social services.
Stobhill Hospital is located in Springburn in the north of Glasgow, Scotland. It serves the population of North Glasgow and part of East Dunbartonshire. It is managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Electroconvulsive therapy is a controversial psychiatric treatment in which seizures are induced with electricity. ECT was first used in the United Kingdom in 1939 and, although its use has been declining for several decades, it was still given to about 11,000 people a year in the early 2000s.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) is a nonprofit organization established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its stated mission is to "eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections." Many critics regard it as a Scientology front group whose purpose is to push the organization's anti-psychiatric agenda.
Riverview Hospital was a Canadian mental health facility located in Coquitlam, British Columbia. It operated under the governance of BC Mental Health & Addiction Services until it closed, in July 2012. In December 2015, the provincial government announced plans to replace the obsolete buildings with new mental health facilities, scheduled to open in about 2019. On October 12, 2021, the new Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health and Addiction opened on the site.
Kingsley Green is a mental health and learning disability site located in Hertfordshire, England, just southeast of the village of London Colney.
Stoke Park Hospital, was a large hospital for the mental handicapped, closed circa 1997, situated on the north-east edge of Bristol, England, just within South Gloucestershire. Most patients were long-term residents, both adults and children of all ages. A school was on-site. Prior to 1950, it was known as the Stoke Park Colony, which was founded in 1909.
Ely Hospital was a large psychiatric hospital in the Ely district of Cardiff, Wales. An enquiry into the ill-treatment of patients at the hospital led to reforms to services for people with intellectual disabilities throughout the UK.
Nigel Randell Evans (1943–2014) was a British author, campaigner for people with disabilities and film maker, with over forty social documentaries to his credit, including Walter, the feature film screened on the inaugural night of the United Kingdom’s Channel 4.
St Andrews Hospital is a mental health facility in Northampton, England. It is managed by St Andrew's Healthcare.
Hartwood Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located in the village of Hartwood near the town of Shotts in Scotland.
Barbara Robb was a British campaigner for the well-being of older people, best known for founding and leading the pressure group AEGIS and for the book Sans Everything: A Case to Answer.
Stoneyetts Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located in Moodiesburn, near Glasgow. Opened in 1913, Stoneyetts served as an important source of employment for residents within the expanding Moodiesburn area. The function of the institution changed throughout its existence: it originally cared for those with epilepsy, before housing people with intellectual disability, and from 1937 treating those with mental disorders. By the early 1970s there was an emphasis toward psychogeriatric care at the hospital.
Mental health in the United Kingdom involves state, private and community sector intervention in mental health issues. One of the first countries to build asylums, the United Kingdom was also one of the first countries to turn away from them as the primary mode of treatment for the mentally ill. The 1960s onwards saw a shift towards Care in the Community, which is a form of deinstitutionalisation. The majority of mental health care is now provided by the National Health Service (NHS), assisted by the private and the voluntary sectors.
St Lawrence's Hospital was a mental health facility in Caterham, Surrey.
Wyfold Court is a country house at Rotherfield Peppard in south Oxfordshire. It is a Grade II* listed building. By the year 2000, the estate had been converted into apartments.