The practice of keeping people with mental illness or with learning disabilities together in large hospitals, often in isolated locations away from larger towns and cities, continued well into the second half of the 20th century.

Here's a song I wrote some time ago, based on my own experiences as a young man training to become a nurse for people with learning disabilities in what was then called a 'subnormality hospital'.

HOSPITAL

Just gone seven in the morning,
I’m the one who’ll get you dressed;
“Wake up, Don,” I say, and then
I move along to wake the rest.

Back I come a short time later,
“I found you something nice to wear!”
Heave you up out of your bed,
Manoeuvre you into your chair.

        Hospital, this hospital has been your life,
        Hospital, you’ve been here since you were five.

Someone beat us to the bath,
Wrap this towel round to keep you warm.
After your wash, I help with your clothes,
Then wheel you into the dining room.

Scrambled egg and tinned tomatoes,
A plastic mug of lukewarm tea;
Now it’s time to go to workshop,
Packing nails in boxes all day.

        Hospital …

Yes, you told me once how your parents left you:
“It’s okay, Donny, it’s lovely here!”
You watched them walk off down the drive
With aching heart and streaming tears.

No one should have to live this way,
The rows of beds, one shelf above,
Sloppy food, boring work,
Lack of solitude, lack of love.

        Hospital …

Ah, but the summer fetes, now those are great,
And the patients’ café for tea and toast,
The country walks, the weekend discos,
And the outings you love the most.

Hey, remember last year’s trip to Margate?
The sun shone down the whole day long;
You laughed when we splashed your feet in the sea!
Then back on the coach we sang our favourite songs.

        Hospital …

Now the years have passed, I return for a visit,
The villas have all been razed to the ground.
What is left? Beautiful parkland
Dotted about with executive homes.

Now, I wonder, Don, did they ever ask you
Whether perhaps you’d like to stay?
Or did they just move you to a bungalow
In an unknown town, to start again?

       Hospital, you moved in there when you were five,
       Hospital, that hospital had been your life!