The Lakes Mental Health Hospital - Colchester

James Long

I was here around 2010 ? Self harm and severe depression and anxiety. Going by these reviews I was lucky! Since then I’ve been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder? No great surprise! The best thing the lakes did for me was prescribed olanzapine? I’m still on it in 2024 saved my life ? thank you

lucy

I was here for a month. The staff ignore you when you’re upset. They swear at the patients and talk badly about patients to other patients. I was on 1-1 and they left me locked in a garden on my own for a hour. No one was watching me. I was left in the garden (when I was a risk to myself)for a hour and was meant to be watched 24/7. They have a policy to not let people out on leave for 48 hours when someone has an incident but still let people out. They didn’t search my stuff when I admitted to the ward. The consultant is rude. The staff are rude. I wish I could give this place 0 stars because they don’t even deserve 1. They also keep deleting everyone’s reviews because they don’t want everyone to know the truth, because the truth is this ward is not safe and it’s meant to be a “ place of safety “ I didn’t feel safe there. They made me feel so uncared for. They also would not give me photos of me and my friend when I was grieving they said I wasn’t allowed them. I was also told I needed to “ get over it” because I “have been crying for too many days” Where is the help and support we all thought we were getting? Where is it? I felt worse when I was there then before I got there. This place ruined me. I never want to go back to this ward again and I hope I don’t have to.

HasFaz

Finally got transferred out this awful place today, I can not put into words how bad ardleigh ward is I was here for just over a week and left with more negative thoughts then when I came in. It's like the staff make it a mission to ruin your mental health, they love to twist your words and trigger you. Because of no rooms being available I had to stay in the 136 suite for a whole week and one morning I wasn't feeling to well so wouldn't get out of bed and the time they wanted me to because they were understaffed so a male staff thought it was okay to physically drag me out of bed onto the floor. There has been a really serious incident in the past which occured in the garden yet staff are still careless and leave the garden door unlocked at night unsupervised so anyone can go out and harm themselves. I didn't even get checked properly after a visit which led to me having two plastic bags in my room!!! And one of the first days here I went to sleep in my friends room because as mentioned I was in the 136 suite but couldn't got for a nap there, and the staff didn't realise where I was until over an hour later! A lot could of happened in that time. This place is genuinely awful and only makes peoples mental health worse, the staff need better training. That being said there is one staff member called Layla who was amazing and deserves a pay rise and a few others who were emphatic and understanding!! Layla if you somehow see this thank you for everything and thank you for being one of the only ones who would actually listen to me!!!

Tara Brimfield

I was a patient at the lakes ardleigh ward twice one was failed discharge and now been discharged on a safe discharge, but what can I say my experience here was dreadful, such a unprofessional establishment, it’s meant to be a treatment ward but there is no treatment there at all no therapy, no activities throughout the days and on weekends,

Most staff a extremely rude and disrespectful and all they care about is ordering takeaways in the office and complaining about their breaks, staff always argue amongst themselves infront of patients, and also purposely agitate patients
There is only a few staff I can say (no names) that actually care and put in time for patients, and put in there full heart and work into this profession. WHO seem like they truly care about there job.

Most staff do not seem qualified to work in this profession, and shouldn’t be working in that sort of job, it’s disgraceful,

Also I’m going to be adding a picture to this about the matron of this ward, he is rude disrespectful and also very unapproachable, I asked to speak to him about what’s going on on the wards And I got a door, slammed in my face and completely ignored he is also meant to attend the Ward every Tuesday between four and five, but this never happenes You hardly ever see the matron, and he never makes any time for any patient.

Another thing is, they are always short staffed and there is no one to hardly let paitents out in the garden for fresh air which is permitted!

The staff also don’t do checks properly which is a big concern in a place you’re supposed to be kept safe!

“Qualified nurses” also seem to be getting medication wrong and the wrong dose given which is a big no no and should not be happening in these places.

The place is a very unhygienic place and dirty everywhere and needs big upgrades.
But what can I say it’s been the most worst experience of my life and i wish to never be put back in any place like this!

But I also want to thank the staff who was helpful and did make time for me and others (you know who u are!)

izzy dubbini

I’ve already written a review, but I assume the staff have somehow managed to get it removed, so im having to write another one. This place is an absolutely vile and horrific place for anyone who is mentally unwell, or even anyone in general. I can imagine that even if I had gone into that hospital with no mental health issues I would have come out with some. I was a patient on Ardleigh Ward (the female ward), and spent only around a month at this hospital. When I was admitted I was under Section 3 of the mental health act, and had come from two previous hospitals in the same admission. The two wards which I had been admitted to before Ardleigh were assessment units, and as I was under a Section 3, I had been transferred to The Lakes, as it is a ‘treatment’ ward. I’m unsure on what kind of terms exactly this place thinks that it’s treating patients but there is next to no treatment available other than medication. 95% of the staff which were working on Ardleigh ward during my admission should not be allowed to work with mentally unwell people. They have absolutely no idea what they’re doing, or if they are clued up then they only use it to take advantage of patients. The consultant discharged me from a section 3, after a five month long admission in total to hospitals, the morning after I had attempted to take my life twice in the same night. When I expressed how I felt to the consultant (also known as a Responsible Clinician, or RC if you’re detained), he simply told me that if I wanted to end my life it wasn’t his problem and no matter what I expressed to him he was going to discharge me regardless. At the time he discharged me from my section 3, and from the ward I had no leave, I was allowed very few belongings, had no bedding and wasn’t allowed my clothes due to my risk. Despite this Dr Mtika went ahead, and as you can imagine as soon as I was discharged I was still a danger to myself and repeatedly got admitted to general, and was under Section 136 (police section) multiple times in the following weeks of discharge. This eventually led to re admission to another psychiatric ward. In terms of the nursing the team, I don’t even know where to start. There were very few and far between staff members that actually cared whatsoever about the patients. One of the staff members (Hamdia, who is one of the charge nurses) decided to target me right from the get go. As soon as I was admitted she wanted to make my life difficult. Hamdia took it upon herself to go and tell lies about me and slag me off to other patients on the ward. She instructed other staff members to perform illegal restraints on me. She shamed me for having healed scars and made staff members drag me to my room simply because they were on display, and told me that I wasn’t allowed out until I had covered them up, although I didn’t have access to any of my clothes. There were many times where checks weren’t carried out properly, to the point where if I had been left even seconds longer I likely wouldn’t be alive now. Staff didn’t care if you were self harming, and the majority of the time if you had injured yourself you would be expected to clean your own wounds, despite being in the care of nurses. The staff were just generally lacking any form of sympathy or empathy and rather just looked down upon patients, and patronised us. This place is supposed to be a ‘place of safety’ but it isn’t. A whole lot of work needs to be done on this place, and things need to stop being covered up. It’s absolutely vile how I and the other patients were and are still being treated. Something needs to change, the system can’t keep failing people.

Tom Foster

Made me feel extremely safe and was on hand for any questions I had no job was to much effort for them the staff was amazing and helped me remain calm all the way though thank you.

Imogen Wiseman

The place I was diagnosed. Offered no help. Just was given meds and pretty much told to deal with it. Cannot imagine what it's like to be admitted.

Anonymous User

In principle the potential is there to help people, however only a few of the home treatment team have actually listened and shown knowledge and understanding, the assessment team and doctor need more training as they are insensitive. Things have not been relayed as requested, phone calls don't come when expected and they are too busy to see you on the day you call them, plus they twist your words and write inaccurate information about you. Cam honestly say I'm done with them as no further forward.