Priory Hospital North London

I’ve been a patient on lower court 3 times, I’ve been in over 6 psychiatric hospitals and lower court is one of the best I have been in. The staff are caring and attentive and I have felt I’m able to be honest and open with most of them. They keep me safe when I’m unable to keep myself safe and on the whole all my experiences have been positive. I have spent around 9 months in total on the ward and feel able to accurately describe the experience. Of course, it is a psychiatric hospital so it’s difficult to be here at times but overall it’s good. The ward manager speaks to patients and takes in feedback and is attentive. My doctor is Dr Tyagi (the ocd doctor) who is very good and one of the few doctors who makes me feel heard and understood. I feel very lucky to be able to receive this standard of care.

I have my 17 yrs old son staying in this hospital at Birch ward .stuff treat me with no respect and lies . Complaints through the hospital website and email the manger but no response .the hygiene and beds sheet.pillows are terrible condition,when asking the staff they said will change if the patient request! This place make you mor ill.

I went here back in 2010 and it was like walking into a completely different time zone. There were doors missing, and staff trying to de-escalate..what am I talking about, trying to pin in patients in the kitchen about 5 to 1. Staff all hiding in the staff room, never return property or forward on mail, the whole place was dark even the walls told you people have died here. At the end of the corridor you got patients just chilling with aerosol cans and towels, getting high. Just all in all, please if you're a parent and you're reading these reviews - listen to them. This place isn't for recovery it needs to be shut down. Do not send your child here they will get worse, not better. The things the other children got up to, it's scary stuff. I still remember the day I watched my mum walk up that long road with that look only a worried, stressed out, exhausted, done with it, had enough parent-face looks like. Why did I put my mum through that awful experience let alone me.

most of the good review you see here are all from the private pet of the hospital in 2021 i spent 6 months in birch ward at 14 it was awful staff pick and choose who they like the food is awful many patients had ed’s that staff ignored completely. patients myself included were left for hours having incidents or were imed straight away with no attempt at verbale de-escalation. The care protect cameras would be randomly turned off allowing patients to have big incidents that can be life threatening. the ward is extremely understaffed and patients are left to help each other through incidents. it is an extremely damaging place and i strongly advise you to ask for a different placement if you get a bed here almost all patients i met there got significantly worse and then discharged when they needed help more than ever it is not somewhere you can recover and it has added to my ptsd. certain staff members were abusive in a lot of different ways and should not be a loud to work with kids but the priory chooses to ignore it. Education staff helped me more than therapists did shoutout to sarah from education for listening to everyone. there was ofc the certain hca’s who helped me and sat with me but there was only about 2-3 that actually showed they cared most night staff made it very obvious they were only there for the money and did not care about patients

This is one of the better mental health (nhs/privately run) wards. the staff are kind and spend a lot of time with the patients I felt genuinely cared for and treated like a human not just my disease more places should be like this.

Child adolescent patient of 1m and another admission of 1y and didn’t solve my mental health problems. Lot a close friend to suicide and serious failings of social services and mental health staff. RIP Mary Stroman

My son came here a couple of years back for treatment. As the time progressed, we couldn’t see any difference in his health. He was perfectly fine but now he is cut off from his normal life. He is behaving as in he is not interested in his normal life. He now has extreme resentment towards his family which is shocking. Instead of him getting better, as a mother I cannot see any improvement. I think he has become worse with the treatment. This place has ruined my son. I am so frustrated I don’t know what to do. Whoever is thinking of going for treatment. Think twice.

I was distraught and broken and a lot of other adjectives when I went in. I couldn’t function let alone socialise and this place has been my saviour. I read the reviews and I panicked and almost didn’t come but it’s highly probably the best thing I’ve ever done for myself in my life. Please keep up the good work. I can’t reiterate how much it has saved my life

I’ve just completed the 28 day ATP programme. The ATP therapists are incredible and the care from all the staff at The Priory was wonderful. It’s a perfect environment for anybody struggling with addiction issues - clear boundaries and expectations are set at the start of the 28 days, with support from the therapists, consultants and peer group throughout.The expertise of the ATP team, along with the blend of therapies and workshops have educated and set me on a path to recovery. Thank you.Rooms, food, cleanliness and general environment are all great.

i was an inpatient on birch ward (camhs unit). some of the patients were lovely and a selection of staff, however this place should really be improved. first of all, the staff care more about you attending school than anything else. there is rarely any activities on the ward, very understaffed. i went 2 weeks without being outside even though i asked. mdt is very small, not many people included in your care, and don’t listen. they try to get rid of you as quickly as possible in my opinion. food choices were bad, and many patients suffered with eating disorders which were ignored by staff meaning they wouldn’t really care. staff had favourites, and treated everyone differently. barley anyone would be treated the same, and some staff had no respect for patients even though it’s a psychiatric hospital. overuse of restraint methods, medications. the aim was to basically sedate us without helping us move foward in recovery. we had group therapy every day and we got told off or forced into our rooms if we didn’t want to go. lounge was locked most of the time and there was no wifi meaning a limited amount of things we could watch. the staff would make us hotspot our own mobile data to the tv for some form of entertainment. the area has no surrounding gates, meaning absconsion was easy. the camhs garden was a tiny wooden fenced boxed off area, which was not great at all. the place was very dirty, and cleaners left bleach bottles in the bedrooms! patients could go ages before getting attended to during incidents. the ward was very depressing. bedrooms were nice but the whole ward was one small hallway which isn’t helpful. honestly would never want to send anyone here.