BROADMOOR HOSPITAL (Hansard, 1 April 1965)

§ Mr. W. R. van Straubenzee (Wokingham)

I am very gateful to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health for his courtesy in being here at this comparatively late hour on an inconvenient day of the week, and I want to make it quite clear that since we had a recent opportunity on 19th March, in a debate on mental health, for a broad-ranging discussion of the administration of special hospitals including Broad-moor, I do not want tonight to repeat what I said then or to go into that in any breadth.

I am tonight confining myself to raising one or two comparatively detailed questions which arise directly from the escape of Richard Upcher from Broad-moor on 21st February. On past occasions when there have been escapes from Boadmoor there have been criticisms that the warning siren has not been sounded sufficiently quickly, and I am sure the Parliamentary Secretary will realise that if and when those fears are justified on any occasion it would be a very good and proper cause for anxiety in the neighbourhood.

My information, such as it is, of the escape on 21st February is that the siren was sounded at about five minutes past 11 1998 p.m. and, bearing in mind the proper duty, as I would think, of the medical superintendent to make quite sure before he causes the siren to be sounded, that one of his patients is out of his care and jurisdiction, I would have come to the conclusion that there was on this occasion no unreasonable delay, or indeed delay at all, in sounding the siren.

But it would be very helpful, if the Parliamentary Secretary has had an opportunity of considering the report of the Minister's inquiry, if he were to tell the House whether that is a correct interpretation. If I have my timing right, I think it followed that the night staff had not yet taken over on the night in question. That, in turn, is important because there has been criticism that significant numbers of the night staff at Broadmoor have been doing during the day full-time jobs which impaired, it is alleged, their efficiency for their work. I am quite well aware that members of the staff at Broad-moor have for many years past done modest additional jobs during the day. I do not think that it is well-founded that they do full-time work in such things as the factories of Broadmoor by day if they are on the night staff. But, in any event, it seems to me that on this occasion no blame could attach to them because they were not then on duty.

I should like to raise one detailed point on the question of this escape and then conclude with a major problem. I wonder whether the Parliamentary Secretary is satisfied with the liaison which he has through his Ministry with the B.B.C. when escapes of this kind occur. Perhaps I could put to him the problem of the escape on 21st February. Richard Upcher was in Broadmoor because of being arraigned for armed robbery and, however comparatively quiet a man as a patient he may be, the fact that armed robbery was the reason for his being in Broadmoor I think justifies the feeling that it would have been wise from the start for the B.B.C. to have been provided with the necessary information to make that clear. My information is that it was not until some appreciable time after the escape that he was described as likely to be dangerous, and it would have been helpful had that been made clear from the very start.

In other words, I should like to be assured by the Parliamentary Secretary, 1999 if I may, that he is satisfied with the close liaison which he possesses through his Ministry with the B.B.C., or, if he is not—for this can be an important channel of information—that he will look at it as a result of this escape, without, I hasten to add, any criticism of those involved.

But the central point which I want to raise is this: ever since the last escape, which is mercifully some time ago, I have been insistent on the question of the warning system. I want to make it clear to him that I accept that no system of security at Broadmoor or anywhere else can guarantee 100 percent. that there can be no escape at all. Such a thing, frankly, is not possible, and it is not reasonable that we should expect it. But in a country such as this, if we tell people what is happening as far as we can, if we take them into our confidence as far as we can, we shall gain from them the free co-operation which otherwise we should never get. One of the great criticisms in the past has been that the warning siren—though I quite understand and appreciate that immense trouble was taken with it technically—just was not up to its task.

I remember some three years ago going into it in great detail technically—I realise that this was long before the hon. Gentleman had any responsibility—and being told that this was one of the finest sirens of its kind in the world. I think that I was assured that it would be possible for it to be heard, if necessary, down at Southampton. I am afraid that I ventured the view that it was not interesting whether it could be heard in Southampton but that the problem was technically that it could not be heard in insignificant parts of the countryside immediately around Broadmoor.

I think that I can claim to have been, if I may so put it, the spearhead of the friendly assault upon the then Minister and his advisers which resulted in the decision being taken that sirens linked with the central one should be established in certain centres of population in which I am interested, Wokingham and Bracknell.

I want to know why it is that, in April, 1965, these link sirens are still not in operation. I must honestly say that the effect of the work of the Ministry on the 2000 one hand and the local authorities on the other—both come into it—seems to have resulted in unnecessary delay. I should like very much to know whether the hon. Gentleman can give me something firm in the way of a date from which these warning link sirens will be working, because I put it to him that, if we have an intelligent set of residents who are warned effectively if there is an escape, they can take instant precautions. They can bring in their bicycles; they can lock their garages; they can take the keys out of their cars. They can—and perhaps I should have put this first —look after their children in particular, for that is something which is very important sometimes with patients of this kind.

Finally, I should be most grateful if the hon. Gentleman would consider an idea on which I shall quite understand if he does not feel able to comment tonight. It has been represented to me very responsibly, as a result of the last escape, that it would be an enormous benefit to the countryside and the towns around Broadmoor if they could be given what I will loosely call an "all-clear" signal from these warning sirens.

The hon. Gentleman will, I am sure, understand—and I do not think that I exaggerate—that large numbers of older people who live alone live in real terror —again, that is not overstating the case —during the period that they know an escaped prisoner is at large. He will know from our previous debate that my principal interest is to enlist the understanding support of the surrounding countryside in the work done at Broadmoor and this will not happen if people are afraid of it, so the more that can be done to remove fear the better.

Therefore, if he could devise a method by which these warning sirens also gave news of the fact that the patient has been found—if that is technically possible—I believe this would go a very long way to reducing to a minimum the period of time for which my constituents and others are under very grave fear.

I repeat that the hon. Gentleman might not be able to give me an answer on that tonight but it would be very kind if he would say that he would have the suggestion examined technically. Admittedly these matters are, by comparison with the work of the House, detailed 2001 points, but for the area in which the hospital is situated they are matters of very great importance.

§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health (Mr. Charles Loughlin)

I want first to say that I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. van Straubenzee) for raising this matter and certainly because he has done so in a restrained manner and, if I may say so, without being presumptuous, in the best way possible.

I want to tell the House something about Broadmoor and to try to meet the main issue which is the motivation of the hon. Gentleman's action in bringing the matter before the House this evening, which is to try to let the people of the area know that we are doing absolutely everything we can to ensure not only that they are safe, but that they can have a degree of mental rest about their safety. I am also grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the support he has given and continues to give to the hospital. He has an association with the Friends of the Hospital and it is evident from his attitude that he is concerned with the hospital's good name.

Security is the paramount consideration at Broadmoor, as at the other special hospitals. If this were not so, escapes would be much more frequent. Strong pressures would build up to apply a more restrictive regime and patients would suffer. This is the one thing we want to avoid as far as we can. In a way, it would be putting the clock back and I think that the hon. Gentleman would regret that as much as I would.

Before dealing with the main issue raised by the hon. Member, I should like to remind the House of Broadmoor's history and function. From 1863 to 1949, Broadmoor was a criminal lunatic asylum under the Home Office. During the whole of that period, the day-to-day administration of the hospital was in the hands of a medical superintendent. In 1949, Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum became Broadmoor Institution and was vested in the Minister of Health and placed under the management of the board of control. It was still administered by a medical superintendent of course. In 1960, it came directly under the management of the Ministry of 2002 Health as a special hospital for mentally disordered persons who in the opinion of the Minister require treatment under conditions of special security on account of their dangerous, violent or criminal propensities". The medical superintendent continued in charge of day-to-day administration.

From 1940 to 1949, there were six escapes involving six patients. From 1950 to 1959, there were seven escapes involving nine patients, but since then there have been only three escapes involving four patients. This is something which we want to get clearly on the record, because nothing could he worse than conveying the impression that there are many escapes from this institution. We want to be perfectly clear that this is not a question of restoring the confidence of the people in the area, because confidence about security ought not to be absent.

We are concerned about security and I think that the history, and particularly the recent history, of the institution indicates quite clearly—I do not want to make comparisons with other types of institution—that if comparisons were made in any way, Broadmoor would compare favourably with any other secure type of institution.

The hon. Gentleman devoted the greater portion of his time to the specific issue of Upcher's escape. I am in something of a difficulty, because I do not want to deal too fully with that escape, because the hon. Gentleman has written to my right hon. Friend and has suggested that it would be to the advantage of all of us if he had a discussion on the issue, and a meeting has been agreed. The hon. Gentleman also has down a Question for answer on 31st May.

Briefly, the facts as we have been able to determine them by a very careful investigation are as follows. Richard Upcher was admitted to Broadmoor on 2nd June, 1961, under a hospital order with an unlimited restriction on discharge, after conviction for burglary. By the time of the escape, he had made some progress along the ladder of privilege, and was in a block where considerable liberty of movement is allowed. I do not think that there can be any criticism of that. The hon. Gentleman referred to Upcher's conviction for armed robbery, but if a patient of this kind makes a 2003 reasonable degree of progress, we ought to be able to help his rehabilitation in every possible way.

He escaped from the block on the night of Sunday 21st February, apparently by concealing himself in a hot-plate under the serving hatch in the dining room when other patients left, and then breaking a pane of glass in a window of the dining room and squeezing through the protective bars. I ought to explain that he is rather a small and slightly built man. He then succeeded in scaling an inner and an outer security wall, making use of various aids, including some rubble on a site where patients had been working, and a ladder in a locked shed. I know that there has been some adverse publicity about the alleged loads of rubble in the grounds of the hospital which enabled him to escape, but we have made careful investigations into this, and I can tell the House that there were only about two barrow loads of rubble, and there is no substance in the charges that were made.

I do not want to disclose all the details of the escape, because I think the hon. Gentleman would agree that it would be bad security to give a complete and total picture. He was seen on top of the outer wall at about 10.45 p.m. by a nurse who, realising that he might be accompanied by other patients, ran about 300 yards to the house of another nurse who telephoned at once to the hospital lodge. When the two nurses returned to the wall, the patient had gone. He gave himself up at about 9 p.m. the following evening to troops in the Caesar's Camp area, less than two miles from the hospital, and he had not, while absent, inflicted injury or damage of any kind either to person or to property.

A Departmental inquiry has been held into the circumstances of the escape, and a report has been made. I understand that the hon. Gentleman has some evidence which he may be prepared to make available. If so, of course, this would be helpful to those of us concerned with the inquiry.

Let me make it perfectly clear that the hon. Gentleman is absolutely correct when he says that there was no evidence of any delay in sounding the siren on this occasion. As the hon. Gentleman knows, 2004 the siren, apart from sounding in the hospital itself, is linked to the switchboard at Bracknell Police Station. Nor is there anything in the suggestion that when the siren was sounded the night staff were not on duty. I have here the duty roster of the whole of the night staff. The whole of the night staff completed their duty, and I assure the hon. Gentleman that the night duty staff times are from 9 p.m. to 7.10 the following morning. Consequently there is no substance in the suggestion that the night staff were not available.

My general conclusion is that once the patient's absence had been discovered the escape procedure worked quickly and well. Little time was spent on the necessary check to confirm a suspected absence before sounding the alarm. The weather was dry, and the meteorological report is of a north-easterly wind, Force 2 to 3, east of Bracknell for the period 11 p.m. to midnight. The main siren at Broadmoor should have been clearly heard in the immediate area of the hospital in these conditions. The hon. Gentleman's time of 11.05 is correct for the sounding of the siren, and so there is no question of any delay at all.

The hon. Gentleman asked what progress had been made with the new sirens at Wokingham and Bracknell and what has been the cause of the delay in bringing them into operation. Perhaps I could say a little about the system as a whole. At present there are two escape warning sirens, one at Broadmoor and the other at Little Sandhurst. In 1957 a temporary siren installed in early 1954 was replaced by a more effective electronic siren, and it was hoped that this would give adequate warning within a two-mile radius of the hospital.

Subsequent tests showed that the Little Sandhurst area was still poorly served, and a second siren was therefore installed in March, 1961, which sounds simultaneously with the main siren at the hospital. Further tests showed that although audibility in the Little Sandhurst area was much improved, there were still districts where it was unsatisfactory, and after representations from a local authority and the hon. Gentleman it was decided that some extension of the system was necessary and that a number of satellite sirens should be installed at distances of three to four miles from the hospital.

2005 In all six more sirens are to be provided—at Camberley, Crowthorne, Finchhampstead, Wokingham, Bagshot and Bracknell. The present position in regard to installations is as follows: the sirens at Camberley, Crowthorne, Finchhampstead and Wokingham are already in position and they are expected to be operational by the end of May. This entails connection to the electricity supply and to the main siren at Broadmoor. We have a slight difficulty at Bagshot and Bracknell. Sites have been acquired—the telephone exchange at Bagshot and the corporation maintenance depot at Bracknell—and the installation has begun. These two sirens should come into operation in June.

The hon. Gentleman asked me to give him a firm date, but I cannot yet give him an absolutely firm date. I can, however, give him an assurance that these sirens, if we can get over the difficulty of wayleaves, will be in operation by June. We think that the area of effective warning within a reasonable radius of all the areas I have referred to will be sufficient to ensure that everyone will be perfectly aware when an escape takes place.

I want to try to deal with the sounding of an all-clear. This is a very difficult problem. The present siren is a "bleep, bleep, bleep", and it is going to be very difficult to find an all clear which will not conflict with the present fire service sirens in the area. But I agree with the hon. Gentleman that the one thing that will give absolute relief to the people in the 2006 area is, by some means, to give an all-clear showing that the danger, if there was a danger, has ceased to exist. We are doing everything we possibly can to try to devise some way to overcome this difficulty of confusion with the fire service sirens, and get a distinctive all-clear for the people in the area.

The hon. Gentleman also made another point about arrangements with the B.B.C. The Superintendent of Broadmoor and the Chief Constable of Berkshire have worked out a plan of co-operation between the hospital staff and the police which operates in the event of an escape. The B.B.C., of course, works in concert with the police and the hospital authorities, and they decide whether information should be broadcast. The hon. Gentleman can rest assured that as far as it is humanly possible we will expedite the coming into effect of the type of warning system he wants.

I am absolutely satisfied that the present medical superintendent and his staff are doing a magnificent job and there can be no question about the correctness of the present set-up at the hospital. I appreciate that the hon. Gentleman, in whose constituency this hospital is, the many friends of the hospital and other voluntary workers are doing a wonderful job of work, and we are very grateful indeed to them.