"Shocking staff& treatment"

I was sent to Ashbrook ward as I was suicidal. I was shocked how the staff were with patients. The female ward manager was very patronising & condescending when she spoke to patients. Everyone was beneath her and she let them know it.

The regular staff remained in the hub and never interacted with patients and when a patient asked them for anything like a cigarette, as patients were not allowed to keep them themselves, the patients were treated in a patronising angry manner for disturbing the nurses from chatting or eating their take-away. I also saw them mock patients habits and sometimes it felt they would antagonised them for their own amusement and entertainment. The agency staff and housekeeping were the only ones who treated patients with dignity and respect. The only ones who had any time for patients or who spoke to them but sadly no role in the patients care plans. Care plans and assessments were left to the regular staff who never interacted so I could not figure out how they could write reports or assess if they hide away all the time. I nor my family were involved in any decision making and if your condition could not be sorted out with pills they were not interested in helping you. I felt I came out worse than when I went in and had to look else where for help and treatment. I would not recommend anyone going here as the staff (apart from agency) were highly unprofessional and uncaring. if you got attacked by another patient they moaned more about the paperwork than if you was injured or scared. The bathrooms were always a mess and dirty. Not because of housekeeping but other patients constantly urinating on the floors or trashing the toilet paper everywhere. the food was decent but again you took your life in your hands if another patient kicked off as the regular staff always remained in the office chatting and left the agency workers, which was normally just one person, to hang around the canteen. The poor level of care is not due to underfunding or being understaffed but due to poor standard of staff who do not want to do the job. no matter what state your mental health is, you should not be judged, made fun of or treated like a waste of time. Sadly here you are treated exactly that way.