AGY-70 | Broughton Hall Psychiatric Clinic

Full description

Broughton Hall was a psychiatric clinic situated beside Callan Park Mental Hospital, in the Sydney suburb of Lilyfield. Broughton Hall had been a special ward of Callan Park from 1920, but became an independent entity in early 1922. (1) The Department of Mental Hospitals was aware that the stigma of being a 'mental patient' would cause reluctance to apply to a mental hospital. (2)

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, allowing for 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. (3) From 1915 the department had been admitting voluntary patients in anticipation of this legal change. (4) Broughton Hall was part of this new approach.

Broughton Hall Psychiatric Clinic admitted mainly patients 'suffering from the milder psychoses and neuroses', who applied for admission. Medical referral was not mandatory. The Professor of Psychiatry at Sydney University acted as a consultant to the Clinic. (5)

The Lunacy (Amendment) Act 1934 (Act No.39, 1934) finally provided for the reception of voluntary patients into mental hospitals. The Act specified that voluntary patients were not to be deemed as 'insane' or even 'patients' as defined in the Act. (6)

From 1958, patients were admitted under the provisions of the Mental Health Act, 1958 (Act No 45, 1958).

On 1 September 1976 Broughton Hall was amalgamated with Callan Park to form Rozelle Hospital. (7)

Endnotes
1. Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals, Report for the year ended 30 June 1922, p.8; Parliamentary Papers, Second Session, Vol. 2, p.958.
2. 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.
3. Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals, Report for the year ended 30 June 1922, p.8; op. cit.
4. Inspector-General of the Insane, Report for the year 1915, p.1; Parliamentary Papers 1916, Vol. 2, p.893.
5. Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals, Report for the year ended 30 June 1922, p.8; op.cit.
6. Lunacy Act, 1898 (Act No 45, 1898) s.24A; inserted by the Lunacy (Amendment) Act, 1934 (Act No 39, 1934).
7. Report of the Health Commission of NSW for the year ended 30 June 1977, pp.52-53; Parliamentary Papers 1976-78, Vol. 7, pp.866-67; NSW Government Gazette, 3 September 1976, p.3718.