"The Priory Roehampton - My Awful Experience"

I stayed at the Priory, Roehampton earlier in 2014 for the treatment of alcohol dependence. I can quite honestly say that the experience was worse than my most depressing times as being an alcoholic. I would not recommend a stay at The Priory in Roehampton to anybody that is suffering from an addiction problem as I experienced problem after problem where I felt the general staff had no interest in my well-being. The fact that this place looks amazing in brochures, the exterior of the building is amazing, once you’re actually inside the and part of the West-Wing, things are not quite as they seem. And to think that you’re paying circa £5000 a week to stay here, my advice is to look elsewhere. The following is a description of how my 4 out of 28 day treatment programme worked out….. On arrival day late one Friday evening I was firstly shown to a room where the admission took place. The room was hideous. It was dirty, the last person’s rubbish was strewn under the bed, I was given form after form to fill out which, whilst still under the effects of alcohol and feeling particularly anxious, could have waited until I had settled in. After complaining about the cleanliness of the room I was moved to an equally unpleasant room where pipes were rattling through the night disturbing sleep, curtains had stains on them, taps didn’t work that great, the shower had a mind of its own regarding water temperature – certainly not the upgrade I was expecting! I had the next couple of days to detox with the induction starting on the Monday. Over the weekend you are expected to mix with others in the addiction group. Unfortunately the West Wing also accommodates those with severe mental issues who you are not supposed to mix with. This however is virtually impossible. The smoking areas are communal, corridors are shared, dining room is shared, you just never feel that you are getting a good level of service in a hospital that’s famous for addiction treatments when you are put in a wing that caters for a whole host of other types of mental problems. Monday evening was the scariest day during my treatment. A few new patients turn up who were very intoxicated. They were given rooms along my corridor where they seemed to have no regard for any of the other patients, they displayed inappropriate behaviour and shockingly the staff didn’t seem to have any control. Two of these new admissions burst into my room unannounced on separate occasions throughout the night. I was awoken constantly as they were in and out of each other’s rooms, their TVs were blaring, the nurse station was massively under-staffed – the unit had basically lost control and my complaints were ignored. I really felt in fear for my safety at the hospital during this episode, so much so that I checked out 4 days into my 28 day programme and I have had difficulty in tackling my addiction on my own with no suitable follow up from The Priory. Overall I have felt very let down.