What Happens to Special Hospital Patients Admitted to Medium Security?

This article describes the outcome of all the Special Hospital patients admitted to and discharged from the Norvic Clinic over a period of ten years since its opening in 1984. This study identified 23 patients. Of those transferred, 56% had a legal classification of mental illness. A much higher percentage (91%) were restricted under the powers of s.41 of the Mental Health Act 1983, compared to 69% in the West Midlands study (Cope and Ward, 1993). There appears to be a significant difference between the mental disorder groups for age on admission to Special Hospital when considering all patients (males and females). This difference is not maintained when males and females are looked at separately, although the result for males is nearly significant (p=0.0606). The number of female patients is small (five) and so the tests will hardly be reliable for the female sample. No significant differences were demonstrated for any of the other variables considered. Like the West Midlands study, minor reconvictions were completely absent. This was an unusual finding within the West Midlands study and not replicated from any of the previous Special Hospital studies. In this study, failure constituted an unsuccessful transfer with return to Special Hospital and reconviction. The percentage of those returned to Special Hospital without reaching the community was slightly lower than the West Midlands study, for both the mentally ill and those classified as suffering from psychopathic disorder.