ABSTRACT
In England and Wales, secure hospital services for women have evolved; since 2000 they have been significantly restructured. Their current configuration is very different from men’s secure services. This restructuring is a result of increasing recognition by caregivers that women present with complex health and social care needs whose roots are often in adverse experiences in childhood, rather than just the biology of mental illness. The Department of Health (DH), rather than clinicians or academics, has led this restructuring effort, publishing influential policy on treatment needs.
