ABSTRACT
In the 1960s to early 1970s was a time of progress in psychiatric nursing, the period was tainted by scandals. This chapter makes a rose-tinted view of the mental hospitals, but it should be acknowledged that most nurses continued to care despite the adversity of their impoverished and stigmatised environment. Powers that had previously rested with medical superintendents were shifting to medical advisory committees, in which consultants at the mental hospital met to discuss treatment and professional matters. Gradually, these committees expanded to include psychiatrists from other hospitals in the locality, eventually becoming area and regional groups. Organised embezzlement of National Health Service (NHS) and patients' property was probably rare, but every hospital had weak spots that could be exploited by crooked staff. The 1959 Mental Health Act and rapid turnover of patients necessitated greater input by social workers in the mental hospitals. Family fiefdoms were embedded at every rung of the organisation, from domestic assistant to senior nursing officer.
