22 July 2009

Bureaucratic deaths at Broadmoor

Saw this report in the Financial Times on Broadmoor Hospital following the release of a report from the Care Quality Commission.

There was a particular paragraph that stopped me in my tracks. "Eight suicides occurred at Broadmoor from 2001 to 2008, five by hanging. But because the buildings are grade II-listed, the trust has been "unable to eradicate obvious ligature points such as bars on windows"."

Sorry Mrs A, Mrs B, Mr C, Mrs D, etc, but your loved ones died because the local planners said Broadmoor couldn't change the windows. I wonder if that's really the case, or whether the powers that be in Broadmoor didn't actually make the effort to make the change?

The listed building status of Broadmoor Hospital would appear to be more important than human life.

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