Back | 
Print
About us
Springfield's history
Mental health services have been provided at Springfield University Hospital – now the Trust headquarters – since 1841, when it opened on 15 June as the Surrey County Pauper Lunatic Asylum (pictured right). The site was chosen for its “southern aspect, good air and ready supply of water” (A Short History of Springfield, by Ian Lodge Patch).
Until the 19th century, standards in private ‘madhouses’ - as they were often called - were very low, and only those able to pay were cared for. Most paupers were accommodated under dismal conditions, and mentally ill people often wandered the streets or at best were cared for by their families. The few public hospitals that existed were little better, and public opinion was becoming increasingly sensitive to allegations of cruelty in the name of treatment.
The building and estate
The Asylum Act of 1808 encouraged the building of public hospitals for those who could not pay, though by 1827 just nine such hospitals had been built. Less than 20 years after the death of George III in 1820, Surrey Magistrates decided to establish a County Asylum. They soon found all that they needed at Springfield Park, Wandsworth, which had been offered for sale (Wandsworth was still part of Surrey at the time). Though no trace remains of the 18th century mansion that stood on the site, it appears on maps as late as 1858 when Garret Green School (now Burntwood School) was built.
Building began in 1838 according to the designs of Mr W Moseley, the County Surveyor of Middlesex. Constructed in Tudor style with subtle angles and variegated brickwork, the asylum was praised in architectural journals at the time, though its gables and twisted chimneys have since been removed as dangerous.
In 1839 Alexander Morison, a visiting physician, found that 366 mentally ill patients from Surrey were being cared for in the various private pauper asylums. He arranged for 299 to be transferred to Springfield at the time of its opening in June 1841.
A public footpath, which ran along the drive between the present Admission Building and the Main Building, allowed passers-by to peer into the ward gardens or ‘airing courts’. But by 1860, the Committee were able to extend the eastern border to its present line, offering more privacy to patients.
The Committee Room lay on the right of the entrance of the Main Building while the quarters of the Resident Medical Superintendent lay on the left. From 1872, nurses and domestic staff lived on the second floor, while behind the main hall the two offices became doctors’ surgeries. To the rear were kitchens, gas works, a boiler house, a well and after 1881 the builders’ yard. The chapel, now an administration office, was on the second floor until the present hospital church was built in 1880.
From the first, the asylum had to cope with every sort of clinical problem and specialist facilities only developed gradually. Until 1872, infectious cases in enclosed wards were a constant source of epidemics and anxiety, until they were separated into the Cottage Hospital that was opened in 1872. The infirmary block for the physically ill and its operating theatre opened in 1881.
The Annexe (now the Admission Building), designed by Rowland Plumbe, was opened in 1897 admitting 20 mentally handicapped children. The removal of the those with learning disabilities, and especially children, from the wards was an ambitious move for the time. The move opened the way for Springfield to develop an active approach to the education and training of those with learning disabilities, who were previously dispersed throughout the wards.
The Asylum Committee and medical staff
There are many figures who played a role in the running of the hospital in the early days of Springfield. The members of the Asylum Committee were often wealthy aristocrats who had altruistic motivations and time to spare. The medical staff employed by the hospital worked with few resources and little training; psychiatry was in its infancy in the mid-19th century. There were no professional standards of knowledge or practice and most doctors trained by apprenticeship.
The first Resident Medical Superintendent was Thomas Quick, who brought in his wife as the hospital’s first Matron. The role of medical superintendent was very demanding and Mr Quick was required to remain in the hospital on a permanent basis, only taking leave with the permission of the Committee. He was responsible for dispensing all medicines, keeping the patients’ records up to date and saying prayers twice a day.
The influx of patients to Springfield often reflected the social conditions of the time. Many were suffering the effects of poverty and alcoholism. A shift from the agricultural way of life to city living during the industrial revolution meant that those suffering from mental disorders became a burden on their families and Springfield’s admission rates soared. Until the mid-20th century the hospital had little control over the number of admissions and it was only after an Act of Parliament in 1959 that the number of patients could be controlled and their needs matched to the type of treatment. In recent years, treatments have become more sophisticated and effective. The average length of stay for patients has reduced, as has the number of inpatients.
By the 1960s, Springfield – as it was then known – had 2,000 beds and was serving the local geographical area. By then, with changes in the way in which people’s mental health needs were managed, most of the large old institutions which historically had provided long-term residential care for people with mental health problems (such as Horton and Netherne) had closed. Springfield didn’t close but changed what it did. This partly reflected changes in treatments but also changes in mental attitudes. Today, there are only 286 beds on the site, which is one of more than 90 sites that make up the Trust across five boroughs – Kingston, Richmond, Wandsworth, Merton and Sutton. This rapid growth took place largely in the nineties.
In 1967, mental health services provided by the former St George’s Hospital at Hyde Park Corner transferred to the neighbouring Atkinson Morley’s Hospital in Wimbledon with outpatient services provided at the new St George’s in Tooting. The links, which quickly developed between Springfield and these services, established a university teaching hospital with academic staff from St George’s Hospital Medical School.
Local services were first united in 1994 under the name Pathfinder Mental Health Services NHS Trust. (Previously, Springfield had been the mental health unit of Wandsworth Health Authority.) The Trust changed to its present name - South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust - in 1998, when it took over services for Putney and Roehampton. A year later the Trust became responsible for local services across all age ranges in Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth and linked with social services and other departments in the three local authorities. It operated wards at four sites and from a range of community-based resource centres and team bases. In 2000, it also took over responsibility for mental health services in Kingston and Richmond.
The expansion has been gradual: year by year, the map has changed, and the services have grown and expanded. Today, the Trust, with its headquarters at Springfield University Hospital, operates out of more than 90 other locations across South West London. Serving a population of over one million people across the five boroughs of Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth, it has 720 inpatient beds and more than 90 per cent of its work takes place in the community.
