Britain's Highest Security Psychiatric Hospital - Inside Broadmoor (Part 2)
  • 6 years ago
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital at Crowthorne in Berkshire, England. It is the best known and oldest of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

The Broadmoor complex houses about 210 patients, all of whom are men since the female service closed in September 2007, with most of the women moving to a new service in Southall and the remainder moving to Rampton and elsewhere. At any one time there are also approximately 36 patients on trial leave at other units. Most of the patients there have been diagnosed with severe mental illness; many also have schizophrenia and personality disorders. Most have either been convicted of serious crimes, or been found unfit to plead in a trial for such crimes. The average stay is six years, but this figure is skewed by a few patients who have stayed for over 30 years; most patients stay for considerably less time.

The hospital's catchment area consists of four National Health Service regions: London, Eastern, South East and South West.