Between the late 1960s and early 1980s, at least ten major and many smaller inquiries were held into neglectful, abusive and violent practices in a number of psychiatric and ‘mental handicap’ hospitals. Many of these institutions, or certain wards inside them, had become professionally isolated and severely under-resourced. Deeply ingrained cultures of harm and neglect had evolved over years, causing untold suffering to many of society’s most vulnerable people, including those with severe learning disabilities and older people. This chapter provides an overview of shifts in the understanding of institutional environments in the post-war period and the subsequent emphasis on moving care for acute conditions into the community, leaving long-stay wards more isolated than ever. It explores the social, cultural and political mechanisms that facilitated the exposure of harmful practices by the press and campaigners, compelling politicians to order inquiries. Finally, it examines how the inquiries helped to bring about change to the provision of long-term care in the 1970s and contribute to the widespread closure of the old Victorian asylums from the 1980s.