Basildon Mental Health Unit

Basildon Mental Health Unit 2022-11-20 Person 1 5 0

If you can avoid sending your LO to psychiatric care do. They will not be treated with respect. Not every staff member is abusive but too many staff members stand by and allow it. The wards are depressing in themselves there isn’t anything to do. I have had a number of admissions and have seen the following Patients openly self harming until bleeding (staff not acting) Stay on 1:1 reading book while patient picks stitches Staff stealing from other staff and patients Poo on walls. Smell of urine Patients sleeping with each other. No care plans Shared dorms Staff bullying patients. Improper restraint- restraint then not documented. Medication inappropriately used or threatened. Patients often not treated with dignity. Personal items such as female underwear being searched in an open area by male staff in full view of other patients. The care is awful. It doesn’t really count as care. It isn’t safe. Senior management cover up issues instead of addressing them.

Basildon Mental Health Unit 2022-07-29 Person 1 5 0

My name is Sam Richfield I was brought in from police custody after falling off of a building 50ft (not a suicide attempt) upon arrival I had all of my things taken off of me and they were locked away and scattered around the ward making it difficult for the next staff on shift to find my stuff. I had a seriously broken leg and knee and was on crutches, I nearly fell over in the shower wet rooms 100's of times and was forced to take drugs I didn't want. They put me in the ward with the most violent of patients. The staff were terrible and laughed at us and wound members up on purpose to get them to kick off. I was in there for two weeks and finally got to see the doctor who without even talking to me said you have psychosis and wanted to give me a brain altering tablet which I refused. Two more weeks went by and I still refused the meds and was the most normal person in there including the staff! Then one night I was sat in bed reading the bible and 10-15 big black men burst into my room grabbed my bad leg and other leg and injected 150MG of a anti-psychotic which was the strongest dose. I ended up in A and E because of this and nearly died. The doctor was scared of me after issuing them to jump on me and removed himself as my doctor and went on holiday for a couple of weeks where I had a new doctor take over. He seemed nice at first and said you're not crazy and if you keep your head down I will let you out in a week, one week went by and I kept my head down and he refused to let me out and upgraded me to a section 3 giving me less powers and say in what goes in my body. I was given the choice of accepting tablets or being pinned down and jabbed again. weeks went by and I was moved into a lesser secure ward but this ward had a tiny box garden with no sunlight or grass, trees, any form of normal nature and it was worse than the other ward. He still wouldn't let me out and some good staff members were questioning why I was still being kept in. He finally let me go home but I had to take these tablets which landed me in hospital AGAIN. What the doctor didn't understand and wouldn't listen to was I have a depleted dopamine level due to having ADHD and the tablets all worked on dopamine transmitters. Therefore giving me tablets can cause serious sides which I had and landed me in hospital for the second time. I have been sectioned 3 times in the space of a year through battles with the police. By far basildon was the worst. The patients get fat, forced to take tablets that cause their estrogen to sky rocket, rude staff who are there to get paid who fall asleep on the job and huff and puff at the slightest request. Not all the staff were bad Godwin and Gabriel were angels. DO NOT GO HERE and if you end up here good luck on getting out without ruining your brain chemistry for life.

Basildon Mental Health Unit 2020-11-11 Person 1 5 0

Even though I was a voluntary patient, I was searched upon arrival and my thyroxine for hypothyroidism was taken away from me. A week later I realised they were not giving it to me and I insisted on leaving. The senior staff member calmed me down and persuaded me not to leave. A female staff nurse Once burst angrily in to the toilet, (they have access keys), while I was urinating to accuse me of smoking, she did not apologise and stood for a while in the doorway. I have never smoked cigarettes. Also I had not left the ward at all in that time. Another small Far Eastern Asian looking nurse accused me of smoking in the dorm, without any evidence. I knew who it was who was smoking but did not tell her. A male nurse from Zimbabwe shoved me in the back and accused me of taking photos while they were restraining a woman to take to the high security wing. The one shower for men was a mess in the morning as everyone scrambled to get to it before it became too dirty and slimy. This is how it works, get up say nothing sit down all day. They lock the dorms so you can’t sleep of the effects of the drugs in comfort . You had to be very friendly to the catering woman on the ward as she was permanently in a foul mood. Visits by the psychiatrists were rare. Dr Heydari told me she is also concerned about the conditions there and agreed with my comments, Especially as I described the ward I was in as a rectangle, half of which is out of bounds to male patients. she seems to be a caring person, but I only met her after discharge and she showed her abrasive nature once by chastising a member of staff in front of my wife and I. After discharge Dr Mundempilly put me through 16 treatments of ECT, the official guidelines are for a maximum of 12. Before that I had some moments of happiness but my life has never returned to pre ECT, I have never had a happy day since. During the ECT that Dr Pillay at Grays Hall suggested I would have appointments with her but I do not remember any of them. She told me to stop running which I knew from experience was my only way of coping with mental illness. Her decision set me back four years. Thats how long it took me to remember what benefits running has and it has taken me two more years to get fit enough again. My admission was to try out a new generation of anti psychotic which gave me dangerously high blood pressure and raised heart rate. All other anti psychotics are life threatening for me. Lithium gave me hypothyroidism. I have never been given an official diagnosis. My treatment has spanned over ten years now. Dr Pillay wants me to go for tertiary care (admission) again, but I know that you have no voice once they get you behind those doors, it’s your word against theirs and you will be accused of psychotic behaviour. dr Pillay and Dr. Mundempilly wanted to section me after I attempted suicide because the ECT turned my intellect against me, suddenly I could not even remember places I had visited for the last fifteen years. It made me drink alcohol again after abstaining for twenty years. My wife objected strenuously to me being sectioned. Psychiatry is not a science, they have more power and operate without accountability and have less empathy than the police. Do not allow your loved ones to become trapped in the mechanism that this service offers. The only way to protect yourself is to know your legal rights and have someone on the outside to protect you. Everything on the ward takes forever and your life is inconsequential. I no longer trust anyone, I do not believe they are looking after my health. I am certain I would have done them a great favour if my first suicide attempt had been successful. If you do end up in the ward do not expect any social interaction with the staff, the patients are able to give you much better advice and empathy than the consultants. Note, the staff in the common area canteen were great. The nurses who took my vitals were very good and friendly, the environment, decor and Bolshevik regime are not helpful. I am now more comfortable being asocial and avoiding humans as much as possible. Being in the confines of Basildon mental health unit and undergoing ECT has taught me to keep out of people’s way, don’t bother me please and I won’t bother you.

Basildon Mental Health Unit 2020-10-31 Person 1 5 0

Barely got spoken to by staff until they wanted us out our rooms so the cleaner could come in. Only TV and colouring to do all day everyday. Didn’t even realise I hadn’t eaten or drank a thing for my whole admission which was 8 horrifically long days and when a member of my family called up to share this information they lied and said I had been eating and drinking fine which then followed up the same day with me being discharged and the psychiatrist saying ‘you don’t suffer with mental health problems so I’m unsure why you are still sitting here’ So I guess people try to commit suicide when they are in the right frame to mind... anyway, multiple times I had a patient that kept coming into my room and standing over my bed as I tried to sleep which made me feel even more uncomfortable than I was and when I informed a staff member he chuckled and said he would deal with it and never did. One day I was struggling more than normal and when we got called out our rooms for the cleaner one staff member said to me ‘Can you not do this whole saga now I’m due a fag break’ as I was crying room. Don’t even get me started on how terrible they are with knowing who’s in charge that shift- no one ever knew who had the keys to the phone charging lockers so I could barely speak to my family. I could go on for ages. Terribly run place.

Basildon Mental Health Unit 2020-06-09 Person 5 5 0

Say thank you... I'm just writing a counter letter to a complain/investigation Due to suffering a serious illness because of a medication given to me what I did not what they were... No saying a 'Coincidence'... Only reason for voluntary admission was for chronic insomnia Thank this trust unit.... This trust & professionals & nurses are beyond despicable THANK YOU...DOES NOT APPLY TO THIS TRUST

Basildon Mental Health Unit 2020-05-03 Person 1 5 0

I was taken ere on dec 1st 2019 till dec 7th on a sfeguarding Im epiliptic and for 2 days i was not given my medication Of epilim 200mg 3x3aday and was also not given food Food ws first come first served once gone u go without Was not enough to cover all patients theres no resources avalible For patients u do not get outside in a garden at all You are locked on a ward with just one tv a Rooms are a dull grey dirty colour one would get treated better If in prison i had no counselling no education nothing To help improve menatl health tgis place just locks patients In a room and ignore them staff are aggressive and abusive Towards vunerable people i weighed 8 stone when i was sent there in discharge I weighed 7.5 due to lack of food i ate once in whole week there and that was A sandwich needs closing down or new staff to replace old ones and refurb And resources avalible

Basildon Mental Health Unit 2020-03-11 Person 1 5 0

Dreadful. Completely negligent. My brother was dead 40 mins after leaving.

Basildon Mental Health Unit 2020-02-24 Person 1 5 0

Definite problem when it comes to handling agitated patients. People get frustrated when all they have to do during the day is watch TV, do some colouring in and wait for food. After my admission, I spent 4 days doing nothing and was told nothing. Just before i left, there was an argument (caused by) with the "Deputy Manager" who asked why everyone wasnt happy (except for the whole suicidal thing). When we told her she started ranting about a toxic environment and how we weren't there to be treated (first I'd heard of THAT), wanting to kill yourself isnt a mental illness and if we weren't happy, she would be happy to get us a self-discharge form. Just want you want to hear. As soon as you raise your voice or God-forbid swear, the nurses will stop listening altogether and harp on about how they're not there to be "abused". Simply by the person swearing. People who are likely victims of abuse themselves. I would only willingly go back to this place if I wanted another reason to kill myself.

Basildon Mental Health Unit 2020-01-05 Person 1 5 0

In 2014 I was feeling suicidal and very anxious. I went down to the Basildon Mental Health Department and they were clueless, unprofessional and very patronising. I went home with Lorazepam which made me feel worse. When I got a home visit, the cpn was very unhelpful, all she did was sat there saying nothing, then later on when the Psychiatrist came round he prescribed me mirtazipine which I already told him that they make me angry but I was ignored and prescribed it anyway. I will never see a Psychiatrist again as they can’t be trusted

Basildon Mental Health Unit 2019-11-25 Person 1 5 0

horrible place a couple of staff a nice but that is the exception, most do not like local people in the town that have lived in the area for generations.argumentative judgemental cover up for staff who assault patients