1. Barbara Robb was a British campaigner for the well-being of older people, best known for founding and leading the pressure group AEGIS and for the book Sans Everything: A Case to Answer.
12 Facts About Barbara Robb
1. 2.
In 1967, Barbara Robb compiled Sans Everything: A Case to Answer, a controversial book, detailing the inadequacies of care provided for older people, which prompted a nationwide scandal.
3.
Barbara Robb danced with the Vic-Wells company, the forerunner of the Royal Ballet, but an ankle injury ended her dancing career.
4.
Amy Anne, Barbara Robb's mother, died of cancer in 1935, and her brother, Robert Anne, was killed on active service in the Second World War in 1941.
5.
Barbara Robb undertook a "remarkable self-analysis", and mainly taught herself the techniques of the discipline.
6.
Barbara Robb worked as a seamstress, and took up art in retirement.
7.
Barbara Robb expected a short admission to sort out her medication, which was making her feel "muzzy".
8.
On her first visit in January 1965, Barbara Robb was shocked by what she saw and heard on the ward: the patients' uniform haircuts, no activities, institutional clothing, lack of personal possessions including spectacles, dentures and hearing aids, and harshness from the nurses.
9.
Barbara Robb was passionate about her chosen cause, and worked incessantly to achieve improvement in the long-stay wards.
10.
An employee at South Ockendon Hospital, Essex, anonymously sent Barbara Robb pages torn from a ward report book, describing severe injuries probably inflicted by staff on a patient.
11.
Barbara Robb continued to exert pressure on the government to implement proposals, through the press, Members of Parliament, peers, including Lord Strabolgi, and directly into the DHSS via Abel-Smith.
12.
The AEGIS campaign reached a halt, when Barbara Robb was diagnosed with cancer in 1974.