penjara kehidupan?

last thursday, i got the chance to visit brampton hospital which is located near retford..it was part of my psychiatry attachment during my clinical years..here are some interesting facts about the visit and the hospital:

- it is one of the three national high secure hospitals in UK, with others at broadmore and ashworth..and in fact it is the largest among these three.

- there are more than 3000 staffs working here with presently around 350 patients. (it can accommodate up to 400 prisoners at one time)..at least the minimum no of staff working at one time is at least 200, esp during night shift.

- total cost for NHS to run this hospital is around 84million per years, wic means a cost for a patient is 250k every year...memang pergh..

- patients admitted here either have been detained under mental health act or liable to detention or pose a risk of dangers to community..but i would say majority here have significant contact with the criminal justice system..

- they r admitted under one of five directorates, (personality disorder, mental illness, learning disability, DSPD, and national high secure healthcare service for women)..and every single directorates run different approaches and cares as what i've seen in wards..(btw there r 30 wards altogether)

- despite the perception dat it is a prison for mentally ill criminals, i can say dat rampton is an exceedingly calm and ordered place to work and the most important thing, a great atmosphere of positivism among the staff..even dealing with dangerous ppl, and highly manipulative criminals, high profile criminals is something dat any medical students will not think of in da future..hehe..

- menariknya, u have to go through a very thorough examination, being ur picture taken before entering, pass thru scanners (cam ala2 airport tuh), n u cannot bring anything with u apart from ur nametag..

- this place is covered by double fence system, in wic i was told dat, dalam pagar ada microfon, n vibration sensor..kalau kucing langgar pun boleh activate alarm system..canggih manggih deyh..

- in fact those who will be working here, they need to undergo a 2-week induction programme wic mainly about security and safety..(blaja kod2 rahsia, breakaway training etc2..)..i was wondering how michael scoffield gonna break away if he was placed here instead of sona.. in fact the last time of breakaway case was back in 1995..(dia guna lori barang untuk larikan diri, tapi kena cekup semula x lama lepas tuh)

- all staffs here will be given a pouch of keys, and kena lilit kat pinggang..n the rule here is, every doors open, must be locked upon entering..tp cam berat abis seluar nak terlondeh psl bawak kunci berat sangat..the lock system is using magnetic system, with a unique hand-size-key.

- some media have branded rampton as a holiday camp..i believe the regime here is quite different from mainstream prison..they conduct art therapy, carpenting workshop, swimming class, play and theatre, cricket pitch, talking therapy dan banyak lagi..even they have a library, shop, indoor swimming pool etc2, macam masuk bandar baru..

- it seems dat we still have a negative perception on mentally ill ppl, they maybe dangerous, but there are distinguish features of treating the bad or the mad..

- in fact we need to put into mind dat one in four ppl had psychiatric problems once in their lifetime, thus it is common and significant... but somehow ppl tend not to see specialist to treat them..especially the stigma in our malaysian cultures..heh..ppl dun like to talk about depression, anxiety, but it could be our family or even our nearest friend..

allahualam