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The world's oldest psychiatric institution - the South London and Maudsley (SLaM) - opens its doors in a brand series, challenging the myths, taboos and stigma around mental illness in Britain. At Lambeth Hospital in south London, the Trust has pioneered the use of short-stay emergency wards for patients in crisis. It's effectively run like A and E but for those with mental illness. Cameras are granted access for the first time to a world where critical decisions about risk are taken every day by psychiatrists and nurses. It works like a sorting office. Over the course of a few days clinicians assess patients and decide whether they are stable enough to return home or whether they need to go on to a longer stay psychiatric ward. Most patients are considered a danger to themselves or others and have either been sectioned under the powers of the Mental Health Act or have come in voluntarily.

This film was first broadcast: 31 Oct 2013

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Our Life brings you fascinating stories of social interest from around the world. You can discover award winning documentaries, films and groundbreaking reports that capture the complexities of our daily life, with stories that will entertain, inspire and inform.

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