Trauma and sadness in The Narcosis Room

Dr Sargant made much of the capabilities of Nightingale Nurses and to give them their due they probably prevented the deaths of more than the five patients that we know about but there were failings in their care of patients. In the case of oral hygiene particularly, we know that some patients lost teeth and one teenaged patient lost all her teeth after coming out of Narcosis and whilst still on the main Ward. Nurses took her to dental appointments as all her teeth were gradually removed. Her trauma and sadness are remembered by others who suffered with her on
Ward 5. 

So far as The Ward 5 Association is aware ECT was always given in the Narcosis Room itself and not in a Narcosis Suite. Patients, particularly those coming to the end of their treatment, were less heavily sedated and aware of some of the things happening around them. This was completely and utterly wrong, patients should never have been exposed to the sounds of other patients having ECT and of the conversations that took place between doctors and nurses around ECT patients. Hearing other patients begging doctors not to give them electroshock or to let them go home added to the sense of abandonment and helplessness that many describe after their treatment in Narcosis. This was psychological torture inflicted by medical staff too uncomprehending to understand that they were taking part in criminal assault and false imprisonment.