Ashworth revisited

摘要

Almost two years ago, on 10 February 1997, the then secretary of state for health, Mr Stephen Dorrell, announced yet another inquiry into Ash-worth Special Hospital. The previous public inquiry, chaired by Sir Louis Blom-Cooper, was published in August 1992. A serious set of allegations prompted the new inquiry, including possible paedophilia involving a child visitor to the personality disorder unit I have been closely interested in the spe-cial hospitals for over two decades, and my wife spent five years working as medical director for the Special Hospitals Service Authority (SHSA).