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My personal experience as an inpatient and...

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"My personal experience as an inpatient and..."

I was admitted inpatient to Vincent Square September last year at a dangerously low weight and prior to this, had been receiving family therapy in outpatients. I must say I found that the staff seemed to care more about one's physical as opposed to mental health. I was not offered any therapy and also experienced bullying from other patients which resulted in my discharging myself two months into my admission. Offensive rumours were spread about me by other patients, I was called 'attention-seeking' and told I did not deserve a bed by other patients as I experienced frequent breakdowns during meals which were not at all taken seriously. In addition, a member of staff even called me 'attention-seeking" because of the way I dressed and much to my absolute disappointment. When I was discharged I received abusive messages from some patients on social media, calling me 'volatile', 'manipulative', 'psychotic', 'sly' and 'disgusting'. I had to block them as a result. Again, when I complained about their behaviour to a member of staff in outpatients, they told me not to be so silly and did not talk to the patients about their atrocious behaviour. I am still an outpatient and admittedly not happy with the treatment I am receiving. When I relapsed soon after my discharge, the member of the liasion team I see every week told me to 'just eat' and threw me out of a session 30 minutes early for losing weight due to involuntary vomiting as a result of anxiety, saying I was wasting their time.

I am appalled at the way I am being spoken to and despite the mealplan being very well thought-out and my being presented with delicious meals, I would not recommend this service to anyone sensitive or with extremely severe mental health issues. My experiences in the unit have left a mental scar and my depression as a consequence is much worse. I feel that because I am fully weight restored, my problems are not being taken at all seriously. When I recently told a nurse I am experiencing breakdowns and feared I may have something more complex than depression/anorexia, they told me I was being 'stupid'. The environment is incredibly toxic and inappropriate behaviour is not at all handled well. Though they may have saved my life in regards to making me gain weight, my mental health has not at all improved and I have not found their service useful in that respect. The only good thing about Vincent Square for me, is because the environment was so toxic, I will never ever let myself go back to the way I was.

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Responses

Response from Vincent Square Clinic 6 years ago
Vincent Square Clinic

Submitted on 19/10/2017 at 13:01
Published on nhs.uk at 14:32

Firstly I would like to thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention and to express our sincere apologies for the distress this experience has caused you.

As a service we are saddened to hear about your experience of the service and the care you received at Vincent Square Clinic. On admission, it is our priority to get our patients' physical health stable as quickly as possible to ensure one’s safety. This will mean focusing on nutrition and physical health to begin with, alongside ongoing psychological support. All patients admitted to the service are offered individual and family therapy; however this is dependent on individual needs, and not knowing your case makes it difficult to comment.

Hospital environments can be very challenging. It is always very distressing to be away from home and familiar relationships. There can be competition and rivalry as people try to tolerate living together with people you might not have otherwise got along with in the outside world. It is very upsetting to hear you experienced such bullying from other patients. We always take these allegations very seriously and advise all of our patients who experience bullying to report it to us immediately so that it can be managed.

It is difficult to manage the impact of social media and patient’s choice to engage in such forums. On patient admission, where patients have a mobile phone, a risk assessment is completed. All patients who are deemed to have capacity to retain their phone must be guided by Trust policy.

There are a number of in-house forums where staff and service users can openly discuss the environment on the ward and try to resolve any issues that arise within the community. We are sorry if you were unable to engage in these forums or if they did not produce a good outcome for you.

It is pleasing to hear that you have continued to use the service as an outpatient; this presents a good opportunity for you to work through the issues you have raised.

Please do make your current therapist/ keyworker aware about your feelings and allow us to support you to heal from the scars of your past experiences.

It is always our aim as a Trust to provide you with an excellent service and care. I am very sorry that on this occasion we fell short.

We wish you all the best in your journey towards full recovery. Once again, thank you for sharing your experiences with us. If you want to talk to me further about your concerns and experience, please call me on 020 3315 2104.

Therese Cahir

Service Manager, Vincent Square Eating Disorders Service

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