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Topic: mental health records what a disappointment (Read 443 times)
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DARRYL
RootsChat Senior
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Posts: 378
I've not edited my PROFILE yet
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Hi there i have been researching a ancestor of mine who i know was institutionalised within carlton hayes(narborough leicestershire) from approx 1920 until her death in 1962,i visited the records office hoping to find out some information to be told there was a 100 year closure on medical records,and i would have to draft a letter to the senior mental health administrator,which i did so and after 1 month i had heard nothing ,so i decided to give them a call, i spoke to a very helpful man to be told that these records would have been destroyed as due to data protection and the sensitive medical case books, that any record 25 years after the patients final treatment, they could be destroyed,so i have been going round in circles when i could of been told this at the beginning,i am quite disappointed that my great grandmother had spent most of her life there with no records available,i was also informed that after the closure of carlton hayes all these records were offered for archiving but no one wanted them,or was prepared to preserve the records,so theyre gone....................
Regards
Darryl
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corinne
RootsChat Member
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Posts: 204
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I'm not sure what you might have expected to find from her records. In my experience of working in a Psychiatric hospital the records largely consist of drug and treatment records which really aren't going to tell you much about the person. In acute admissions nursing notes would give a little bit of a picture of how the person was behaving on the ward, but in longterm wards there would be no real call for detailed notes unless there were major changes. Family background wasn't often considered important enough in the old days to record anything significant.
I have worked in one hospital where the summary sheets of admissions and committals were microfilmed after the main record was destroyed, but again this probably wouldn't tell you much about the person, as you obviously already know how long she was in the institution and what for.
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DARRYL
RootsChat Senior
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Posts: 378
I've not edited my PROFILE yet
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corinne
maybe i was expecting too much,but as im sure you understand when you try so hard to find some information out and are going round in circles,its quite annoying,i have been authorised to view the admission record for my ancestor as i only have an approximation of her admission,its sad though that most of her life she was institutionalised
Regards
Darryl
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Clincher
RootsChat Aristocrat
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Posts: 1191
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I know of a Victorian Gothic psychiatric hospital in South Eastern England which, some months prior to its closure, arranged for the County archivist to visit it and consider its archives, which had suffered at some earlier point from fire damage. I had a chat with the archivist after he had completed his work. He mentioned the 100 year closure but did not say from what time it would run nor which kind(s) of documents it would apply to. He also spoke of some kind of 'sampling basis' being used to tailor the archive to the space available at the County Record Office. Quite by chance (and with no help from the archivist) I had a chance to look at just one of a number of registers which dated from the early 1900s which contained biographical details of patients and included photographs taken on their admission. I do hope that they were all taken into the County archives.
So I suspect that the pattern of records will vary around the country but it is only right that the confidentiality issue is rightly respected.
You could always search Record Offices for 'hospitals' and see what results you get or your descendants can get in years to come.
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JDG
RootsChat Member
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Posts: 236
Orlando One Name Study
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I can fully understand Darryl's disappointment, after all it is wonderful to access any material about an ancestor/relative, especially a relative of close relationship.
I can also understand from a medical point of view that the records would have shown behaviour, drug treatment, medical notes etc, and these are all closed for 100 years, usually this starts from the date of the last entry. Medical records can be accessed by writing to the Senior Medical Officer of the institution, indicating why you wish access and how the person relates to you. As long as the records do not provide upsetting information and exists, I have known cases where records have been shown to relatives.
Remember, in previous times, even into the early decades of the 1900s there were some illnesses, not mental health ones, where people were admitted to institutions, and remained there. Medical conditions such as Epilepsy & Diabetes spring to mind. People that were placed in these hospitals became so used to the structure that introducing those back into the community would have been unsuitable to those involved. I worked at a similar establishment in 1992 and there was a resident who had been there since the end of World War Two. This person posed no threat to anyone and would have been suitable to live outside of the establishment, but was too elderly and so used to the enviorment it would have been disasterous to do so.
One further point, based upon information from my own family.
Those with an underactive Thyroid gland can develop dementia, if they are not treated with a replacement. Thyroxine was not avaliable and over a period of time a relative of mine was admitted to a hospital. Conversations with my late Aunt revealed that the family believed that the relative "had gone mad" (Quoted from my research log). Research revealed that she had more than likely had a Thyroid disorder, and whilst medical research does not state that it is 100% heredity, it certainly can be. How times have changed.
Have you tried to seek information, in general, on the hospital concerned?
When it opened etc - Perhaps any photographs?
I hope that these points are of interest.
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Regards,
Julie
Researching:
ORLANDO - One Name Study (everywhere & especially Sutera Sicily) - (GOONS 3925)
BUDD (Puttenham Surrey)
ELSTONE (Bramshott Hampshire)
GOUCHER (Scarcliffe Derbyshire)
MATTHEWS, Edith (born 1877 Rugby last found in 1901 Merrow Guildford Surrey)
WORSHIP - One Name Study (especially Huntingdonshire)- (GOONS 3925)
BUTCHER (Wonersh Surrey)
Puttenham Surrey - One Place Study
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Clincher
RootsChat Aristocrat
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Posts: 1191
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Hi Darryl: I found a website which may be of help to you. I did try to give you a direct link to it but the best i can do is to suggest that you google 'Andrew Roberts' Web Site', then click on 'Mental Health and Learning Disability' and, on the next page displayed (at the top) click on 'Asylums Index'. You may find specific info about what you require. Be lucky
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DARRYL
RootsChat Senior
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Posts: 378
I've not edited my PROFILE yet
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sorry people for not replying sooner but i wasnt notified i had received a reply,i am now going to take a look on the website suggested 
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goggy
RootsChat Aristocrat
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Posts: 1462
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thank you all tne people concerned with this topic.Iknew from earlier mail that records were not to be made public for 7-100 years, BUT1 I didnt think of the sheer bulk that would be needing some sort of storage facility.Nor the work involved in computorising same if the chosen method.My brick wall happened with my G,MA,about 1930,she was taken into care,spent so long there that when she was offered freedom she was totally institutionalised,and chose to remain in the comfort zone.However,my Mother only had hazy memories of her childhood,I have her birth cert;with only a county and accomodation address on it,in a different county to that which she knew,also a Father who as yet I havent been able to trace,as yet!
i,ll stop here because my feelings are a bit strong on the whole subject!!!
Regards to all,
George.
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JDG
RootsChat Member
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Posts: 236
Orlando One Name Study
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thank you all tne people concerned with this topic.Iknew from earlier mail that records were not to be made public for 7-100 years, BUT1 I didnt think of the sheer bulk that would be needing some sort of storage facility.Nor the work involved in computorising same if the chosen method.My brick wall happened with my G,MA,about 1930,she was taken into care,spent so long there that when she was offered freedom she was totally institutionalised,and chose to remain in the comfort zone.However,my Mother only had hazy memories of her childhood,I have her birth cert;with only a county and accomodation address on it,in a different county to that which she knew,also a Father who as yet I havent been able to trace,as yet!
i,ll stop here because my feelings are a bit strong on the whole subject!!!
Regards to all,
George.
Hello George,
I don't want to upset or frustrate you further, but want to offer you some encouragement. I do understand your frustration; and would say that sometimes, if you are researching in more modern times, that you need to to take a different approach, and sometimes research the wider picture. Instead of focusing on a specific person, focus on the institution, photographs, press cuttings, museums, anything that will give you insight to the area you are researching, you never know what will come up and who you may meet along the way.If I can help further, please let me know.
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Regards,
Julie
Researching:
ORLANDO - One Name Study (everywhere & especially Sutera Sicily) - (GOONS 3925)
BUDD (Puttenham Surrey)
ELSTONE (Bramshott Hampshire)
GOUCHER (Scarcliffe Derbyshire)
MATTHEWS, Edith (born 1877 Rugby last found in 1901 Merrow Guildford Surrey)
WORSHIP - One Name Study (especially Huntingdonshire)- (GOONS 3925)
BUTCHER (Wonersh Surrey)
Puttenham Surrey - One Place Study
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goggy
RootsChat Aristocrat
Offline
Posts: 1462
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prior to my blood pressure exceeding it,s safe limit!Iwish each and every one of you a healthy safe and prosperous New Year.
Thank you to all who tried to ease my burden,the 75-100 year rule according to reports is not carved in stone is it ?Or some access wouldnt be possible.I have seen records stacked in purpose built buildings,from WW2,in an ex military hospital in U.K,and also abroad,so I know what bulk means and realise the work required to get it transcribed.
One thing you can believe,if there is the tiniest crack in the in this "Wall"Iwill find and exploit it!
Goggy 
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