"Admission and detention in hospital"

I have had the misfortune to have been admitted to hospital and sectioned twice within the last six months. I had previously, a long time earlier, had spent time in a mental health unit in Southern England, so I thought I knew what to expect.

My first admission to the Royal Glamorgan Mental Health Unit was traumatic. My experiences during my first admission have been logged by my advocate Lois and it is unnecessary for me to go into detail. I felt badly let down by the mental health professsionals and, though I would normally be able to make my own complaints, because of the mental health problems I was suffering, requested help from the then hospital advocate Lois . I would like to express my gratitude for her professionalism, her dedication and her capability in ensuring a positive outcome. After she took my complaint to the appropriate level I not only received an apology from the Trust but, after I was unfortunately re-admitted, was able to see for myself that there had been changes in procedure that made admission to a psychiatric ward less traumatic than I had previously found it.

I would like to commend my advocate Lois for all the work she undertook on my behalf and I would also like to thank the Advocacy Service.