Talk:Powick Hospital

Records?
"Records indicate that 683 patients had been treated with LSD in 13,785 separate sessions before the program was discontinued with Dr. Spencer's departure." -- Can we have a citation for this, please? Who added it? Thanks,  Tu rk ey ph an t 19:40, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

I added this information and neglected to cite my sources at the time. I've just added a citation to an archived Worcester News article that I believe to have been my source. At any rate, it cites the same numbers currently in the article. Ronald W Wise (talk) 20:30, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Tone
It's hard to mask the distaste for a lot of what went on at Powick in the 60s. There was certainly something very  Robin Cookesque about the place. Nevertheless, the tone of this article needs to be more neutral for the  encyclopedia. This should be possible without compromising the content.--Kudpung (talk) 18:48, 22 June 2009 (UTC)


 * It's very hard to know what to think of the work. It is certainly fascinating. There is a BBC video featuring a short section with Dr. Sandison here: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=2237337. —Preceding unsigned comment added by GyroMagician (talk • contribs) 18:32, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Collett's Green?
The image caption is "Collett's Green - the former hospital" but this is not discussed anywhere in the article. Could anyone provide some more details on the history and the name? Martinevans123 (talk) 17:15, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

Powick in the 1960s
Certainly after the retirement of the last matron of Powick, Miss K E McConnochie, standards declined rapidly. With an incredibly small staff she ran the nursing side of the hospital meticulously but was always battling to get improvements to the geriatric ward which was not in the grounds of Powick. I went on rounds with her and cleanliness was paramount. If staff were slacking they were told in no uncertain words to buck up or ship out. However, there was real antagonism between Miss McConnochie and the Chief Medical Superintendant. He disliked her intensely and she hated him with a vengeance. She would never be specific but she disliked his methods which were often at odds with her and her staff. I met him once when I was selling raffle tickets and her was not a pleasant man although he did confuse me with a patient ...and hIs tone changed when his assistant told him I was a friend of Matron! I got the impression his 'bedside manner' left a lot to be desired! I did meet some of the doctors who appeared to be pleasant but I primarily mixed with the nurses.

I spent many days at the hospital as a visitor and guest of Miss McConnochie as a teenager during the summers of 1965 and 1966 and often helped out in Occupational Therapy and even played tennis! There were even occasionally parties held on wards for patients and staff and I have to say that I never witnessed any of the horror stories that were talked about in the documentary. Patients appeared to be well looked after and as happy as you can be in a psychiatric hospital! I had a long discussion with one ex patient, little older than I was, who had been helped with drug addiction and she gave me a great insight into the treatment she had been given. She had returned to the hospital to thank the nursing staff for getting her life back together.

A hospital is only as good as the staff that run it. I knew Miss McConnochie personally for over 35 years and my mother grew up with her. She was always very kind and very honest. When I visited her at Powick I was allowed surprising freedom within the hospital ...like I said, I often accompanied her on morning rounds, I had lunch in the staff cafe and met many of the inmates. When the hospital lost its matron it lost its high standard of care....but I think that applied throughout the NHS. Because the law had only recently changed to allow married nurses to return to hospitals, the matron and her staff were all very dedicated and professional, giving up much of their personal life to care for the sick. There were clear lines of demarcation between nursing and doctoring but both struggled to adapt to new technology and practices within antiquated and often dilapidated buildings. It is easy to criticise with the benefit of hindsight. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elfkincatcher (talk • contribs) 02:58, 14 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Although this is all very interesting, unfortunately none of it can be used in the article unless it also comes from a reliable public source which you can provide. Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 11:20, 14 September 2012 (UTC)