Headley Court

[BikinGlynn]

I remember Prince Philip visit , I was in the RAF and he visited the mess , he was giving out commendations one to a friend of mine who put out a fire in the staff accommodation/ Naafi. Awesome place , brilliant photos and a great trip down memory lane

Thanks thats an interesting story.
The other half of this site across road somewhere has been hit really hard by explorers recent & took a bit of a battering, but think this half is still in pretty good shape.

 

[gtwibell]

When my brother-in-law was serving in Iraq and later in Afghanistan, my wife and I did some fundraising for the Help For Heroes charity which I believe contributed much to extra and improved facilities at Headley Court. I guess they've now all gone for a ball of chalk too.

 

[Natters5]

Headley did a lot more than rehab for injured soldiers it looked after those with addictions to drugs and Alcohol and mental health issues caused by stress, there was and still is a great deal of pressure on service personnel away from the battlefield, during my 25 years service I certainly came close to clocking in to Headley several times.
Help for Heros, started as a fund raising organisation with the intent of building a new swimming pool at Headley a target met and pool delivered in a couple of years thanks to support from the Royals and Fleet Street. They then went on to take over the Tidworth Garrison Officers Mess and build that up into a very successful rehab centre, so much so that MoD transferred much of the staff and resouces from Headley to Tedworth House and jointly fund it with H4H.

 

[Hayman]

sorry Hayman, I've only just caught up with your question. No I don't think all the changes are for the better. The wholesale closure of the psychiatric hospitals, (because 'community care' is alleged to be better and cheaper )along with closure of many other NHS hospitals such as the original 'voluntary ' ones, local cottage hospitals, rehab wards, long-stay facilities, specialist units etc etc - has resulted in a massive bed loss. I believe we have fewer hospital beds per head of population than many European countries. I'm sad to see a great facility such as Headley Court being replaced by housing (what else) Sorry to have a rant about this.

Thanks for your comment. You're right about the closures of cottage hospitals. etc. What happened to "Small is beautiful"? I know physical medicine has become very high tech, with all sorts of expensive scanners, etc. But basic medical care is still much the same. As for mental health, human beings are still human beings, with the same wide range of minds. Places ranging from the likes of Broadmoor to sheltered housing will still be needed. But putting people in ordinary houses and expecting them to look after themselves when they do not have the mental capacity has been a cop out. Demonising the asylums/mental hospitals is all very well, but they served a very real need. Pretending all people are normal helps no one, especially those that do need the assurance of basic daily care. Time and again, one reads of how poorly the NHS compares with health care - mental and physical - in other 'first world' countries. Now, it is going to use private hospitals to clear (part of) the horrendous backlog of people on waiting lists; probably with many of the staff in those private hospitals being doctors, surgeons, etc who for years have worked some days at NHS hospitals, some at private hospitals - thus adding to the NHS backlog in the first place.