Cara H.

My experience of Wooton lawn has been very different to some of the reviews I read when my son was transferred here last week.

I was so worried about him going here and how it might he for him having never experienced this type of hospital before but I was soon completely reassured..
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I have found the staff to be absolutely fantastic.. kind, compassionate, very knowledgable , and very supportive both to my son and to me.

I have seen multiple staff turnovers during my visits and watched the way the staff speak to and treat the patients and it is nothing short of kind and respectful.

I do not live locally and was in the process of trying to get my son moved closer to me but we are both so reassured by the care he is receiving here I am now not feeling in the least bit concerned about how he will be cared for here.

I have nothing but good things and praise for this hospital and for the staff here. The management team are very experienced and have offered so much additional information to us.and the medical team and support staff are all so lovely and friendly ..The hospital itself is clean and tidy and my son’s stay is so far comfortable even though it’s under stressful circumstances . I can sleep easily now at night knowing he is in the right place for his current needs and being extremely well looked after.

I would like to say a huge thankyou to the entire team for all their hard work.. you are appreciated!! X

Kemela N.

I felt staff were not always informed of how to support you and having a brick wall for a room view is not conducive to recovering mental health patients. This should not have been an option from the beginning. I feel people get worse in here

Sarah C.

After waiting 3 months for a bed as I was not critical enough , I was admitted for 2 weeks . I was asked to go on over night leave coming back to the ward the next day which I did . Guess what my bed had been given away . So say this was part of a plan that I was not privy too . I never saw a care plan I never had time to speak to my named nurse . All I can say is that I’m scared as I am in no fit state to be at home .

Anusha S.

I was in this hospital for 4 months each and evry staff really good they all take care of me very well I was diagnosed very well with the team, my consultant she was really good her name is Dr. Kleftogianni she is very nice doctor her counseling and prescribed medication helped me alot and I was in the abbey ward each and everyone really good I used to spent sometime with the ot department and yoga team each and evry one very helpfull food also very good I give 10 out of 10 for all teams I have been discharged from the hospital I'm back to my normal health doing much better now many thanks each and evryone very helpfull hospital especially for mental health problem I really appreciate all teams once again thanks

Kerry S. P.

I got physically attacked in the secure unit. The staff made sure there was no one around in the corridor and staff would pin me down for absolutely no reason at all and injected me. I was calm and collective, just being innocent. A black male staff nurse named robin screamed in my face and headbutted me in the dinning area where there are no cameras. I still have the scare on my forehead. One black male staff came into my room and was pushing my face hard with his hand slowly multiple times to make sure I swallowed my tablet, he said do you have any family and I said yes and then he said slowly ok and smiled at me while walking away. While I was asleep one time in the unit at night I felt a prick on my leg and I woke up to my leg being stiff, as I rosed up there was a nurse sat in a chair just staring at me, there was no reason for her to be there and I was frightened. Most of the staff there frightened the life out of me.

Saffa F.

In August 2023, I was admitted to Dean Ward at Wotton Lawn under the mental health act for Postpartum Psychosis. It came on out of the blue 9 weeks after giving birth.

Going into Wotton Lawn made my psychosis worse initially, and I had to work through a lot of fear, confusion and paranoia while I was in there. I could not sleep as the patient opposite me was banging, shouting and screaming all night. This patient was actually calm when I finally spoke to her during my stay, she just needed someone to speak to!

I was in Wotton Lawn for about 8 days, and the one female staff member who took my vitals the morning after I was admitted was very kind and compassionate. However, I didn't see her again until just before leaving a week later. There was a constant flow of different bank staff which made me even more fearful seeing so many new faces. The staff were dismissive and not at all interested in the patients. It felt like patients were a nuisance and that the staff didn't want to work there. They seemed to have no compassion. I’m not sure what level of training they receive to understand mental health conditions, and how to talk to patients.

I was so relieved when I was discharged to go to the Mother and Baby Unit in Southmead. The complete opposite! There, I was immediatly introduced to 2 key workers allocated to me, so I could familiarise with them and have a someone I had met before to speak too. I was so relieved when I was reunited with my daughter. Wotton Lawn staff didn’t even check in with me about things like breastfeeding and if I needed any supplies of sanitary products. I wasn’t until my husband and perinatal team mentioned it. Unfortunately I couldn’t continue my breastfeeding journey due to lack of support and unawareness staff had around PP.

Nobody at Wotton Lawn understood Postpartum Psychosis. When I finally had a meeting with the consultant at Wotton Lawn and the Gloucestershire Perinatal Mental Health team, it felt like the consultant was very patronising. He was male and didn't know anything about PP. There was no explanation of what PP was and reassurance that what I was experiencing would get better. Luckily I had support from the Perinatal Mental Health team. I was admitted on Friday and did not see the consultant until the Wednesday! So I was left in the dark and confused about what my condition actually was.

If mothers need to be admitted to a facility like Wotton Lawn, I would suggest staff get some basic training. The charity Action on Postpartum Psychosis offers this.

Also, I was shocked to find out Wotton Lawn had a recent investigation carried out by ITV for negligence, which resulted in serious harm to some patients. When I was admitted, I was very confused and I had medication brought from outside, an antipsychotic and sedative. In my confusion, I flushed these down the toilet. The ward manager was surprised to find the empty packets in my room. The staff did not search my bag upon admission! Luckily I did not ingest them and instead in my paranoia, I actually was fearful of any medication and did not trust ingesting anything.

The way the staff did room checks, and especially at night was very ominous. They weren't polite or friendly, but instead acted on edge and unsure which made me more paranoid. I guess this could be due to using bank staff which are unsure of how to act around patients.

There was little to do and I believe exercise and group socialisation would greatly benefit patients at Wotton Lawn. I was only able to progress my state of mind by working up the courage to chat to staff and patients. At times it felt like the staff didn't want to talk to you like you were diseased or something!

I decided to write this review after seeing the most recent review by Lucas Gillion. It seems things have not changed since 2013!! He echos exactly what I experienced at Wotton Lawn. I would be happy to speak to someone about my experience and help improve the experience of other patients in future, especially those admitted with postpartum mental health conditions.

Lucas G.

I was detained under the mental health act back in 2013 for psychosis. I have mixed feelings about the NHS’s approach to mental health and their way of doing things. To say the least the hospital saved me when I was in turmoil, but at the same time there are negatives. Not all the staff are friendly and some even make small digs and insults at you when you are at your worst time. They shouldn’t be working there. While other staff were very positive and spread a lot of good energy that makes you feel good and helps in recovery.

The “gym” was a shoddy excuse of a gym and only open for about an hour a day. Me being a runner I had to ask permission to go out for a run.

When I was first detained I was in a really bad place and there was absolutely NO insight from the staff as to what was happening and because of this I thought I was in a situation where I would never get out. They just put you in there without even trying to explain what was happening they just leave you in the dark.

I was moved from Priory ward to Kingsholm and the staff working there were a horrible old uncompassionate miserable bunch until I had to go to greyfrairs then luckily back to Priory.

What also bothered me was how the staff often constantly invalidate and disregard you whenever you would try talking to them like they had an attitude problem or you didn’t matter.

I am also very skeptical of this “pop a pill” approach all the doctors and nurses have thinking if you just take the meds, it will solve everything. It doesn’t. It goes a lot deeper than that and the approach they have in the hospital is shallow and catered more towards sedation and suppression instead of genuine healing on a deep level. I had to figure most of this stuff out myself.

When you are there and if the gym isn’t open there is absolutely nothing to do but sit in the communal area on the ward and literally do nothing, which doesn’t help at all if all your thoughts are driving you mad. It’s like constantly waiting for a train all day every day. Or you could go out and get a tiny bit of satisfaction from making a roll up and smoking.

The last two months I was voluntary and spent most of my time in reception reading on my phone until I moved to supported accommodation.

I got better but the system is still very shallow in its approach, poor staff, and catered to suppression through popping pills instead of true recovery. True recovery is ultimately up to you and not the institution.

Luke W.

Disgusting traumatising wards to experience . The staff are terrible threatening behaviour. Mostly staff are employed as agency works should not be ran by lot of agency staff on nights very poor handling crisis situations with ill patients. I give this mark of 1 star cqc need to admit to inspect the place. Lot of staff can’t handle helping patients and sedate them is very shocking to see in your own eyes.
Not to forget to add staff members steal patients belongings of items of clothing glad I’m not using this service again