South Ockendon Hospital
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox hospital
| Name = South Ockendon Hospital
| Org/Group =
| Image = Brandon Groves Community Club South Ockendon - geograph.org.uk - 2635188.jpg
| Caption = One of the few remaining hospital buildings (now used as a community club)
| Logo =
| Location = South Ockendon
| Region = Essex
| State = England
| Country = UK
| HealthCare = NHS
| Type = Mental health
| Speciality =
| Emergency =
| Affiliation=
| Beds =
| Founded = 1932
| Closed = 1994
| Website =
| Wiki-Links =
| map_type =Essex
| map_caption=Shown in Essex
| coordinates={{coord|51.5182|0.3013|type:landmark_region:GB-THR|display=inline,title}}
|}}
South Ockendon Hospital (known locally as The Colony) was a hospital for patients with severe learning difficulties and for patients with major and rare mental health illnesses in South Ockendon, Essex, England.
History
The site acquired for the hospital, which once formed part of the South Ockendon Hall estate, was known as Little Mollands Farm.{{cite web|url=http://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/southockendon.html |title=South Ockendon Hospital|publisher=Lost Hospitals of London|accessdate=24 October 2018}} It opened as the South Ockendon Colony, a facility for "mental defectives", in 1932.{{cite web|title='Parishes: South Ockendon', in A History of the County of Essex|volume=7|first= W R |last=Powell|location=London|year=1978|pages=117–126|publisher=British History Online |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol7/pp117-126 |accessdate= 24 October 2018}} It joined the National Health Service in 1948 when it was renamed the South Ockendon Hospital. The foundation stone for the Gloucester Clinic, a new clinical facility, was laid by the Duchess of Gloucester in 1955.
In 1974 an employee at the hospital anonymously sent Barbara Robb, a campaigner for the well-being of elderly people, pages torn from a ward report book, describing severe injuries probably inflicted by staff on a patient. Robb's personal involvement and persistence was recognized by Barbara Castle, Secretary of State for Health and Social Services.Anon, 'Disturbing report on a hospital: health authorities to be asked to review standards of care' Times, 16 May 1974, 16
After the introduction of Care in the Community in the early 1980s the hospital went into a period of decline and closed in 1994.{{cite web|url=http://www.yourthurrock.com/2010/10/16/south-ockendon-hospital-1932-1994/|date=16 October 2010|publisher= Your Thurrock|title=South Ockendon Hospital: 1932-1994|accessdate=24 October 2018}} Most of the buildings were demolished, except for a building which was subsequently converted for use as a community club, and redevelopment of the site, now known as the Brandon Groves Estate, was completed in 2000.
References
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Category:Hospital buildings completed in 1932
Category:Buildings and structures in Thurrock
Category:Defunct hospitals in England
Category:Former psychiatric hospitals in England
Category:History of mental health in the United Kingdom
Category:1932 establishments in England