AGY-1858 | Broughton Hall Psychiatric Clinic (Special Ward)

Full description

Broughton Hall Psychiatric Clinic was for two years a special ward of Callan Park Mental Hospital, in the Sydney suburb of Lilyfield. Formerly a military hospital for the treatment of the nervous disorders of returned servicemen, the clinic was transferred to the Department of Mental Hospitals in early 1920. Treatment of ex-servicemen continued to be funded by the Commonwealth Repatriation Department. (1)

Under the Lunacy Act, 1898 (Act No. 45, 1898) mental hospitals were for the detention and treatment of the certifiably insane. As early as 1902 the Lunacy Department had argued for a preventative approach, to allow voluntary admission for those with milder mental health issues. They believed that early intervention might prevent psychiatric problems becoming chronic and severe enough for committal. (2) From 1915 the department had been admitting voluntary patients in anticipation of this legal change. (3) Broughton Hall was part of this new approach.

The Department of Mental Hospitals was aware that the stigma of being a 'mental patient' would cause reluctance to apply for admission to a mental hospital. By June 1922 Broughton Hall Psychiatric Clinic became established as an independent entity. (4)

Endnotes
1. 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.
2. Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals, Report for the year ended 30 June 1922, p.8; Parliamentary Papers, Second Session, Vol. 2, p.958.
3. Inspector-General of the Insane, Report for the year 1915, p.1; Parliamentary Papers 1916, Vol. 2, p.893.
4. Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals, Report for the year ended 30 June 1922, p.8; op. cit.