Barbara Robb – Sans Everything

Yesterday, at the Dementia 2017 Conference in London I heard one of the most stunning – devastating and uplifting stories in years.

Claire Hilton, Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry in North West London, discussed Barbara Robb, describing her battle to improve conditions for long-term residents in psychiatric hospitals in the UK in the 1960s and 70s.

Claire screened an excerpt of the 1968 World In Action documentary which revealed, possibly for the first time the unimaginable horror inside a British long-stay psychiatric hospital towards the end of the 20^th Century.

You can watch the film, Ward F:13 here.

Barbara Robb, a psychotherapist and campaigner born 1912 in Yorkshire was contacted by Amy Gibbs, at the time an inpatient at Friern Hospital in London.

Gibbs introduced Robb to the appalling situation facing mostly older people during their prolonged hospital stays; this let to Robb both writing the book ‘Sans Everything’…