ABSTRACT

HOWEVER much it may appear so from the inside, subnormality hospitals are not ‘islands unto themselves’, but part of a wider community. In this chapter we shall discuss their links with the outside world under three main headings: firstly, the formal contact that the hospital has with the Ministry, the Regional Hospital Board and the Hospital Management Committee; secondly we shall refer to the more informal contacts that they have with voluntary organizations and those members of the public who show an interest in their work; and thirdly we shall discuss the contact between patients and relatives and indicate the ways in which the hospital fosters or puts constraints upon such relationships.