Forest House Adolescent Unit 2021-11-10 Person 1 5 0

i was in forest house for 3 weeks and honestly it had good parts as well as bad. the good parts were the people you meet in there and some of the staff. when i first got there i was so nervous but everyone was so nice and most of the staff are nice as well. however the staff are also a bad part of my experience. when i first got there i was in the 136 suite, the staff were very unsupportive. i was constantly crying begging to go home, hurting myself and they straight up ignored it, like legit stood there and watched me then walked away. the morning i woke up i needed my inhaler and nose spray and also some water, my nose was completely blocked, my chest was tight, i was billing and very thirsty but they didn’t tell me how i would communicate with them bc in the 136 you’re completely locked in. i eventually pressed the buzzer and told them all that and asked for some water, i’m not sure how long i waited bc i had no idea of the time but i heard them laughing so i buzzed again and thats why they came and i had to ask for my inhaler and nose spray again and after a while they eventually gave it to me. when i was transferred from the 136 to the main ward i was taken to my room and a nurse sat by my door without telling me a word about what was going on, i eventually found out that i was on 1-1 and had to isolate but i didn’t know at the time and i didn’t want to seem rude by asking what was going on. while i was on 1-1 some of the staff were really lovely but some had no idea about mental health, they would fall asleep during the night and completely ignored you when you were hurting yourself and one of my 1-1’s is deaf and that is unsafe, i was punching the wall in the bathroom until i fractured my hand and bc of his heating he did nothing but he also didn’t care either bc he could see i was very distressed before i started punching the wall and he just sat down doing his word search leaving me to do what i wanted. some 1-1’s were also quite rude as well, for example with bathroom privacy if i would ask for them to leave or just wait outside the door with it open rather then it being shut with them standing inside they’d have a go at me which is so unnecessary. some nurses were very condescending and rude, if you asked for help with someone they’d give you unhelpful and invalidating responses, one time i had to go and have my meds and we always go into the clinic room for some privacy and there was a new nurse and he said to come and have my meds and so i went into the room and he started having a go at me going “why are you coming in here” “what do you think you’re doing” “you know you’re not allowed in here” blah blah just being really rude and the head nurse that was on came and shut the clinic door and gave me the dirtiest look and i went back into the quiet lounge and sat down and he started going “where are you i called you for your meds and you haven’t come” like just being rude again. if there was a new rule that’s completely fine but just tell me instead of being rude. also about the staff, you got no therapy. no support what so ever. there’s the occasional staff member who you were able to talk to about what’s on your mind and they’d sit and talk to you about it but you didn’t get a proper form of therapy. like i said i was there for 3 weeks and in that time i didn’t get therapy, didn’t have a care plan made and wasn't assessed to go to school. they make decisions about you and don’t tell you, and also diagnose you with things and don’t tell you but also ignore serious warnings and diagnosis’s. when i was in there my eating went severally downhill, i didn’t eat for days and lost loads of weight. i was told multiple times that i was going to be put on a meal plan and it didn’t happen. whenever you’d have incidents you’d either be completely ignored and told you’re keeping everyone up who’s trying to sleep (if it were at night) or just told to stop during the day or you’d be restrained without a word then left with no support and no one to talk to. the also don’t check your rooms properly, i and some of the friends i made in there had snuck things in to use to self harm and mine was never found but i used it to self harm every night. i’ve also had incidents when i’ve head banged at night and i would hear staff say “is it me” but they’d just leave me and not come in. if you’re put on 10 minute/20 minute/general checks, they don’t do them and if they do the majority of the time it isn’t done properly. some nurses were really good, they’d come in and actually check if you’re okay properly and some when you’re sleeping would come round and actually check your face but some would just look through the glass at you and not say anything, once someone opened my door and shut it a second after and didn’t speak or look at me and i was in the bathroom so they didn’t even see me. when i was moved onto 10 minute checks i was left alone for hours without a check. i was also moved from 10 minute check to general without a word. i turned 18 while being at forest house and dr fernandez wanted me to be transferred to kingfisher which i didn’t want and i stated valid reasons as to why i didn’t want to go but they were all ignored. i had a cpa which i didn’t attend bc i was given to choice not to if i felt like i couldn’t and she said she’d come and update me the same day, i waited like 4 days maybe more and wasn't updated and then i found out a week later in ward round that i was being transferred and that it had all been agreed. i walked out my ward round and they restrained me but i managed to get out, i was then given no support from her. i had no transition process, nothing. i asked to be put on extended leave instead of going to kingfisher then if i couldn’t keep myself safe i would go into kingfisher informally bc i saw it as i was given a chance and i messed it up kinda thing but she refused. kingfisher is a different thing but it’s worse then forest house bc you’re completely neglected. also while at forest house they told my mum nothing, obviously i was keeping her updated but if i hadn’t had told her she would have no idea that i was being transferred to kingfisher. there’s also not enough staff at forest house and i can’t stress that enough. during the day when we don’t have our phones we’re bored out of our minds. there’s never any groups and if one is planned it gets cancelled, we can never go into the rec room bc there’s never enough staff, all we do all day is either play uno or just found some way to keep ourselves entertained. there were good parts to forest house like the some of the staff were so nice and i do miss them, the nice staff would make our experience a bit more manageable but trying to cheer us up and doing activities with us but it’s rare. i do prefer the environment in forest house as it’s all children nearish to your age and you’re put in a routine but i just wish the age wasn’t 18 bc yes you’re legally an adult but you’re not an adult mentally. everyone has different experiences with forest house so if you’re getting admitted and reading this just bc my experience wasn’t the best it doesn’t mean it won’t help you, it’s more for keeping you safe then recovery.