Leo B.

Don’t know why this place exists. My family member who was severely mentally ill and has been for 45 years turned up at my address 150 miles away In distress. At 8pm on a Saturday night and he needed to go to a safe place as requested by local police station and he is know to this hospital. I called to see if I could bring him there in my car and he could wait for some help as they have his history/medication needs and he could be assessed directly. Told I couldn’t bring him here very arrogantly and I’m to take him to A&E. considering NHS is overwhelmed and it’s a severe mental heath issue I fail to see why this place exists. If I could have taken him there he would have been in a safe environment and supervised with people who you’d think were trained in mental health and then when the mental heath services started at 9am Monday morning then they could see what needs were needed to be met. Metal heath services seem to stop at 5pm on a Friday and start again on a Monday at 9am - shame mental health issues do not work in these hours. I fail to see why this purpose built facility pushes metal heath trauma onto A&E - it’s not a broken leg or a cut - a waiting room would have been sufficient for my family member as he’d been missing and sleeping rough for 8 days and hadn’t taken his medication in this time.

Claire

I'm still in absolute shock at the way my mum was discharged from the laurel ward at Redwoods. I'll give them the 1 star as most of the nurses were really lovely and caring and the people that ran the activities were fantastic.
BUT....... I visited my mum 6.30pm on a thurs, she wouldn't come out of her room as she was still in physcosis and afraid, 3 staff had to run into her, to cut a long story short I left feeling she would be in there some time as she really was mentally unwell. She had been in the general hospital prior to being admitted to redwoods , after trying to take her life due to the phycosis. YET despite all this they rang me on the Friday to say they were putting her in a taxi and sending her home 😱 I had read a previous review which said the same and I thought they would never do that again surely!!!
I had a massive breakdown at the stress and worry as she wasn't ready, her flat was in no way fit for her to go back to, she had no food, electricity, money or anything. She had turned her flat upside down in the state of physcosis, there was broken mirrors and vomit etc..... which I told them!! They just said well we can't tidy it you'll have to do it!! I asked them to keep her that night so I at least had time to go and sort it, as I'm not local to the hospital or my mum's home but they had already allocated her room to someone else!!!?
I was told the consultant said she was getting delusions because of a UTI!!!!! Depsite in the previous sentence saying she was no longer getting delusions, firstly which is it!?!! And secondly i was meant to be consulted before they discharged her and thirdly I explained very clearly it absolutely wasn't the UTI, it may have been contributing to her mental state but she was in full phycosis before going into hospital and definitely didn't have a UTI then!! Both myself and my mum had been asking for help from the mental health services for a month but no one would help as the physciatrist was on holiday!!!
I feel so so let down by the mental health services and by redwoods. It's been the most stressful few months of my life and the way my mum was discharged that day broke me 😭

Jacky P.

It doesn't doesn't deserve a star. They discharged our daughter putting her in a taxi to Kent without an escort. She arrived at 11ppm traumatised and clearly very sick mentally. We were told that she was well and there were no mental reasons be detained. For the next 15 hours she paced screamed and muttered that she was responsible for everything including the Ukraine war, deaths in a TVV programme. We were in the hospital and she was making sure we were taking our medications. Even our pets had to have medications. She screamed so loud that the people living in the road behind us came to see if we were OK. We had to call the Ambulance and Police. The was no care plan or support. had even tried to drown herself the Saturday before she came to us. All services in Kent were shocked she was sent to us like this.
I have now updated this as my daughter has changed ward.. What a difference. I stand by what I said for Laurel ward but Birch ward with a different Psychiatrist it is hard t believe it is the same hospital. The care and ethos is so different and they are listening to me and the real concerns and listening to what my daighter is saying.

Philip H.

This centre is a purpose-built, well-designed complex with an air of calm inside and out. The walls are brightened by the artwork of the patients, each of whom is allocated an en-suite bedroom. The communal area is welcoming and enlivened by music and daily activities take place here or in other venues for the benefit of those staying here. Visitors meet their relatives or friends here for a chat or to play cards, board games etc. The grounds are also very attractive to walk around. The nurses and support staff are very hard-working, courteous and ever attentive to their charges whose needs are monitored closely. We have nothing but the highest praise and admiration for this facility and were consulted and kept informed about strategies and treatments as and when appropriate. Words cannot express our gratitude.

donna C.

Absolutely awful place! Understaffed apparently yet over run by ‘bank staff’ who lack any empathy, compassion or manners both towards in patients and their families! Human rights taken away without any good reason! Dangerous environment. Medications mixed up and medications for physical issues denied causing yet more issues and massive lack of communication, support or any positive therapy/rehabilitation. Patients held for weeks against their will and then dangerously discharged whilst making suicidal threats just to create more bed space! They should call this place the house of horrors!
I wish you all get support, unfortunately it is unlikely to come from here
One star for the few nice staff- that are few and far between but passionate about making a difference

Andrew W.

I've waited a couple of months to form my opinion and I have to say the consistency I was looking for is there - friendly , communicative staff who are invested in the wellbeing and welfare of the patients. I find them organised, caring and flexible. This is so important in a place that for some the only consistent contact is that of the nurses & staff. Any kind word has huge implications on outcome, and for friends/family they know what a real phone is not an online form or black hole messaging system. Very grateful someone I know is recovering here.

Owen W.

As a carer to my grandfather sectioned at this hospital I can confirm the very poor reviews of the patients admitted here.

My grandfather was admitted with mild stress-induced psychosis and was immediately placed into solitary isolation due to 'covid'. He was not given access to his phone or tablet. Nobody from friends or family have been permitted to visit him. The government's guidance expressly states isolation of this kind is inappropriate and a breach of human rights.

It is now almost three weeks that he has been isolated like this. In this time they took a week to even decide on medication and now that he has stopped taking his medication, they have still not taken any action to give him medication covertly. At first they even 'forgot' to check his regular medications, including statins for his heart and antidepressants, leaving him vulnerable to physical illnesses.

The treatment at this hospital has amounted to an 'imprisonment' of my elderly grandfather in a stressful and alien environment, without administration of any effective medication or access to family, friends, or carers. This would be an utterly horrendous experience for any individual, even in the best of health. To treat people suffering from illness in this way shows a complete lack of empathy or understanding of people's needs for wellbeing and stability.

We are now pursuing legal action just to be able to visit him.

Xx_Unhappy_Blues_ X.

I was placed there on a section 2 but I’m under 18 so still a child in the eyes of the law. There was no camhs beds available so I was put on a ward with adults over 20! I was scared. Most staff were lovely however nothing much was done as I was on an adult ward. The clinician was really lovely but the doctors that I saw only blamed it on autism (I have autism) however I was suicidal and hearing voices and seeing silhouettes and was extremely depressed. I was referred again to the crisis team (they don’t work) and was told I have capacity to make my own decisions! I was then discharged and taken into care with a disgraceful social worker and it wasn’t right. Like I said, most the staff were brilliant:)