Bethlem Royal Hospital Beckenham

Reviews

1. Remi Chasigova ★☆☆☆☆

   I was admitted to Gresham Ward 1 and found that my needs were not fully supported and at times neglected . I experienced difficulty sleeping, but did not receive help or consistent access to medication, even when it was unsafe for me to collect it myself. The bathrooms were often locked and had maintenance issues, and staff did not always provide access. I also found some staff to be rude and disrespectful. Upon discharge, I was not given my prescribed medication.

   almost 7 months ago
2. Yasmine P ★☆☆☆☆

   Visited yesterday evening at 8pm (3.12.2025) for the first time to visit someone in the eating disorder unit. It felt like an abandoned building, there was no one around to guide or direct us, we tried 3 different doors 2 of them the bells weren’t working. Then we went to the West wing and explained who we were visiting, the receptionist coldly said “they’re not here” and hung up the intercom on us, we were walking around for almost 20 minutes in the cold and rain trying to get access to the building, called the receptionist many times they wouldn’t answer the intercom, finally a kind staff member helped us find the correct ward round the other side. If that’s how they treat visitors I don’t want to imagine how they are treating patients inside, do better!

   almost 7 months ago
3. Kim Märtyrerin ★★★★★

   Potential Problems When Reducing and Discontinuing Neuroleptics Note: The following two sections are an excerpt translated by Markus Kaufmann (member of the expert committee) from Breggin 2013 (pp. 119 ff.). Dr. Peter Breggin is an American psychiatrist with extensive experience in reducing and discontinuing psychotropic medications. There is currently very little literature on this topic, particularly regarding the criteria for distinguishing between discontinuation symptoms and symptoms of the underlying psychiatric illness. "Any psychotropic drug can produce withdrawal or discontinuation symptoms. This occurs partly because the brain adapts to the psychotropic drug and is left in an abnormally compensated state when the dose of a medication is reduced or the medication is discontinued." ``` The following symptoms may occur when reducing and discontinuing neuroleptics: 1. Psychotic symptoms may occur during reduction and discontinuation as a result of changes in brain metabolism. They cannot always be reliably distinguished from the original psychotic disorder. They usually develop within days of the reduction and generally improve after 2–3 weeks. 2. Emotional lability or instability (such as anxiety, restlessness, paranoid reactions, depression, irritability, aggression, and increased energy). These also usually develop within days or weeks after reducing or discontinuing the medication. 3. Sleep disturbances can be distressing and contribute to instability. 4. Movement disorders (such as muscle stiffness, tremors, involuntary movements of the face, lips, jaw, tongue, arms, wrists, hands, fingers, legs, knees, toes, neck, shoulders, hips, restlessness) can, in rare cases, be pronounced and associated with restlessness and anxiety. 5. Cognitive impairments such as difficulty concentrating, attention deficit, forgetfulness, and distractibility. 6. Gastrointestinal problems such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and abdominal pain. 7. Other physical symptoms such as flu-like symptoms including malaise, sweating, muscle cramps, paresthesia, rapid heartbeat, increased pain sensitivity, headaches, dizziness, and high blood pressure. The extent of these symptoms is significantly influenced by the size of the reduction step. Therefore, it is crucial to proceed slowly and with small reduction steps. Psychotropic medications are far, far more dangerous than the doctors who prescribe them would ever admit. I firmly believe that most people would never use psychotropic medications if they knew how dangerous they are, and I also believe that most doctors would stop prescribing them if they had any idea how dangerous they are. In 2003, the FDA added a warning about the increased risk of stroke to the U.S. prescribing information for risperidone. The same warning followed in 2004 for olanzapine and in 2005 for aripiprazole. Mood stabilizers are anticonvulsants that do not stabilize mood, but suppress emotional responses by sedating and calming people. Psychiatrists have never precisely defined this term. It's no surprise that doctors believe anticonvulsants work for mania, since anything that sedates people helps with mania. All information is provided without guarantee. This is simply meant to be constructive criticism that might help someone.

   almost 7 months ago

1. Nathan M ★★★☆☆

   Shared communal bathrooms are archaic and awful. Not enough fresh air breaks. Should be group leave daily in grounds to enjoy fresh air. Dr Ben Mcneillis is very kind. He is democratic and listens to the patients concerns. God Bless Him.

   almost 8 months ago
2. Elizabeth Stoneman ★☆☆☆☆

   Speechless. Things appear to be improving but when I got here a few weeks ago it was, well, ‘Bedlam’. The staff were lethally dangerous and even a couple of the patients thought they’d have a go, too. Can we all be, like, peace-loving hippies yet or not?!?? Xx

   almost 4 years ago
3. Jamelia Kingstom ★★☆☆☆

   The teenage ward is very unprofessional and don’t know how to work with children. They provoke you and sit together and laugh about you and then make it seem as if your imagining things when your not . 2 of the most liked girls were tying to bully and attack me but when I reacted I was the one that was sent to the seclusion room whilst they got away with it . When I was locked Inside the room once it took them over 3 hours to bring me my food after dinner time so I was hungry and didn’t eat dinner for a while. They refused to bring me my snacks at snack time even if it’s just 3 biscuits. Their breakfast is horrible it’s pouched eggs that you put in the oven. There was one staff who was really nice to me and would always come and talk to me and give me advice on what I could do against the people not treating me well but then they’d always look at us when we were talking and becsude if this they stopped her from seeing me . Also when they restrain you their very rough for no reason and a lot of them become angry I had one staff pull my hair so far back I thought my neck was gonna snap. The food portion sizes are tiny . They purposely kept putting me with a staff member that they knew I didn’t like . When they came in to clean my room the male staff would always stand right above me to make sure I wouldn’t get up and try anything but it was still very intimidating. Over all these staff members don’t know how to deal with teens at all they all have anger issues and are rude and constantly use your illness against you. And dr Dan is a smug guy who enjoys making young people feel hopeless , he told me that I wouldn’t get anywhere in life and that I’d end up dead or worse if I didn’t change , which isn’t something u should tell a teenager much less someone who’s in mental hospital for obvious reasons . There’s so much I can talk about

   almost 4 years ago

1. Claire Gross ★★☆☆☆

   I was in the mother and baby unit 9 years ago. I hated every second of it. I felt trapped and I had no say in my daily life for the 3 months I was there.in a place like that you soon realise that unless you just do what the staff want you to do, you will be the one who suffers . You'll have no freedom and you'll be in hospital for ages.i didn't find it helpful or therapeutic. In fact all these years later memories of it are still upsetting.

   almost 4 years ago
2. Stacey Lee ★★☆☆☆

   Very few support workers, seem to be client focused. The whole mental health services need more funding, so that real person centred care can be achieved. Currently SLAM is not fit for purpose. Better client and clinician, communication and transparency needed, to help reduce psychological stresses.

   almost 4 years ago

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