Full description
No.13 Auxiliary Military Hospital at Broughton Hall was a military psychiatric unit situated beside Callan Park Mental Hospital in the Sydney suburb of Lilyfield. Broughton Hall was used from 1915 for the treatment of returned soldiers suffering from shell shock and other nervous disorders. The hospital was supervised by two medical officers from the Department of the Inspector General of the Insane, but administered by the Australian Army Medical Corps. (1) In this way military powers of detention could be used if necessary, instead of burdening returned soldiers with certification and its associated stigma. (2)
Though administratively separate, Broughton Hall worked in conjunction with neighbouring Callan Park. A cottage in the grounds was set aside for soldiers, and those requiring special treatment were admitted to the hospital itself. (3)
Under an arrangement with military authorities, responsibility for treatment of mental disorders suffered by ex-servicemen was transferred to the State by mid-1920. Broughton Hall Psychiatric Clinic became a special ward of Callan Park Mental Hospital. Treatment of ex-servicemen continued to be funded by the Commonwealth Repatriation Department. (4)
Endnotes
1. Inspector-General of the Insane, Report for the year 1915, p.1; Parliamentary Papers 1916, Vol.2, p.893.
2. Inspector-General of the Insane, Report for the year 1916, Parliamentary Papers 1917, Vol.1, p.346
3. Inspector-General of the Insane, Report for the year 1915, p.1; op cit.
4. Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals, Report for the year 1919, and for the period 1 January to 30 June 1920, p.17; Parliamentary Papers 1920, Second Session, Vol.2, p.877.
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