life on the ward
Patients in the 20th century

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The late 19th century rise in patient numbers continued in the early 20th century. The Victorian asylums struggled to modernise. There were still different conditions for charitable (‘pauper’) and fee-paying (‘private’) patients. Patients were not allowed their own clothes and had to wear issued clothing. There was also a definite stigma attached to being in an asylum.

Patients reacted to the asylum system in different ways. Some found support in the regime, others found it hard to accept. Increasingly there were worries that living in an asylum created as many problems as it solved – it made individuals ‘institutionalised’ and restricted their existence.

After the war there was a gradual move towards voluntary patients coming in for short-stay treatment. New ideas such as community nursing took off in the 1970s and residential numbers declined.

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