I was approached by Cygnet to interview for the position of Support Worker. When I arrived at Reception, my welcome was very poor and I was spoken about as though I wasn't there. I was called "She" and "Her", which I thought was very rude and unprofessional. I was treated as though it was an inconvenience to interview me. At the interview, I was asked what my name was! I was also asked if I had any NVQ Qualifications, although it was clear from my CV that I hadn't? Why then did Cygnet APPROACH ME to interview, when I didn't have the necessary qualifications they required for this role? They obviously didn't know anything about me. It was a complete waste of everyone's time, but especially mine. I thought that the staff I met were very unfriendly. I also felt that the general aura of the hospital was negative and depressing. However, I think that the Hosptial building is beautiful and the fish tank in the Reception area is a lovely feature. I was hesitant about attending an interview with a hospital that is mainly achieving only 1* reviews. Unfortunately, I found that there are genuine reasons for this.

My daughter is currently there for "help" with depression, anxiety and "help" to grieve after major losses in her life. She arrived there on Friday morning after being in a crisis house waiting for a hospital bed. I read the reviews of this place but tried to be unbiased, my daughter really needs the therapy. Anyway it is now Saturday evening, during the last 40 hours or so, she has been refused her prescribed medication, anti depressants etc, also painkillers for torn ligaments she damaged in a fall at the crisis house. They have told her she cannot go outside or have visitors until the results of a Covid test come back next week but then let her out in a taxi to the shops?! I advised my daughter to inform them she is discharging herself and I was coming to collect her. After refusing her the prescribed medication, all of a sudden the nurse in charge decided to write her meds up and blamed it on staff shortages!! I am more worried about my daughter being there with their severe lack of care and compassion, than I would be having her home. I am going to be reporting back to the relevant authorities on Monday and putting in for a transfer, this company are an absolute disgrace.

Former employee. I can't possibly work another day for a company and people who don’t look after staff or service users. I found my time at Godden Green depressing and concerning and not at anytime did the service users make me feel like that, it was the horrendous hospital management and crule company policies that did it. The best thing for service users at GG is that the place is closed down and Cygnet go out of business so no more stress and pain can be dished out to vulnerable mentally ill people. Cygnet as a company and so called hospital management are not fit for purpose. All my concerns have been reported to CQC by email and a phone interview and I hope the appropriate action is taken by them in due course. Heads up. If you take a job as maintenance operative your pay is 24 a year, not 22 they will try and give you. If taken on as a maintenance manager its 30 a year, not the 28 they will try and give you. You will never know what managerment you should take notice of, you will always be in the middle of arguments between maintenance management and hospital management. a party in a brewery comes to mind. The job is just not worth it. Don't do it, you have been warned. They have had now 8 maintenance people in 5 years. That might tell you something.

I was admitted to Cygent for six weeks and can proudly say I received the best treatment then I had ever had over the past 22 years under different NHS settings. I received the correct diagnosis and my concerns were listened to seriously. All the staff and doctors were very professional and took great care of me. I do believe this will be my last admission, however would not hesitate to come back and certainly recommend this hospital to others. Keep up the good work and a big thank you!

My experience at godden green was nothing but positive the staff where lovely and understanding of my mental health problems. The team got me the right help and I couldn't thank them enough. I am still on my journey with my mental health problems but doing so much better because of godden green and now the mental health team at arndele house. Thankyou for all the support I received and getting me the right medication. The staff where so friendly and listened to me any time of day. I can't thank them enough for getting me back after a horrific physcotic breakdown.

I was in Godden Green for a month, I have been to 7 different hospitals in my life and the staff (both Dr Gemma and Dr Debenham) were absolutely outstanding. The OT staff were equally as excellent. I was not the only one who felt the treatment here was excellent. I found Becky the ward manager was understanding and accepting under very difficult and pressured circumstances. It's a year later ( was admitted early June 2021) and I wanted to say thank you to all the staff, nurses, doctors and OT for being outstanding and this is my way of saying thank you and hopefully give others a different perspective on this hospital. Fran Osman

I have been working at Cygnet Hospital Godden Green for the last 4 months. The induction week provides both an in-depth and well-rounded learning experience to develop the skills you will need as any member of staff in a psychiatric hospital. I was impressed with the range of learning content offered on the ‘Achieve’ online platform, including (but not limited to) core and additional modules on the Mental Health Act, safeguarding, therapeutic boundaries, risk management, information governance and responding to emergencies/basic life support. A digital certificate is provided for each completed module, which genuinely encourages continuous professional development (CPD). The induction week also provides in-person lectures and seminars, delivered by senior members of staff from mental health nursing, psychiatry, psychology and OT. Such a holistic perspective reinforces the multidisciplinary practice that Cygnet Hospital Godden Green provides for patients on their recovery journey. Cygnet Hospital Gooden Green also delivers ‘in-house’ PMVA training. The 5 day course provides staff with an understanding of behaviours that challenge and their potential causes, as well as skills to identify, predict and de-escalate such behaviours. The course also provides training in breakaway and restraint techniques, in addition to their legal, ethical and clinical implications (i.e. least restrictive, necessary and proportionate responses). The hospital is also training staff in “safewards”. This is an initiative to minimise restrictive practices, improve the ward environment, reduce incidents and improve safety for patients and staff. The clinical supervision I have received thus far is very good. It is regular, well-organised and reflective, focused on your personal development of skills and general well being. The supervision also provides an opportunity to raise any issues of concern, which reflects the hospital’s progressive commitment to improve the quality of care it provides for patients and career opportunities for staff members. Cygnet Hospital Godden Green offers free meals/drinks and free on-site parking, which is extremely beneficial for staff members. Cygnet also provide staff with NHS discounts across a range of high-street retailers, via your ID badge or through obtaining a ‘Blue Light Card’. The hospital is situated on stunning grounds, neighbouring the Knole Deer Park and the Wildernesse Golf Club in Kent, Southern England. These grounds provide a peaceful and therapeutic environment for service users. The range of services the hospital provides for patients is excellent, including a multidisciplinary input from doctors, nurses, psychologists and occupational therapists. Likewise, patients are encouraged to engage in a diversity of ward-based activities to aid their recovery, including psychotherapy groups, exercise, beauty groups, art therapy, self-catering and educational classes to obtain official qualifications. The MDT delivers person-centred care to meet the unique needs of all patients, and seeing radical improvements in mental health and well-being is extremely rewarding for all staff members.

Awfull avoid this place never let your kids end up here needs shutting down really badly . Honestly never let anyone you love end up here oakwood ward awfull . No stars at all someone needs to do something expecially night staff

I applied for a job here and give them all the paperwork and everything to be able to start they said IV got the job but still no start date my paperwork they had seems to be not here when they have had everything they messing me about very bad communication in a work place no one waits almost 4weeks just to get a start date and I'm still waiting and now IV been asked to do my paperwork again very bad workmanship

Most of the staff are great. Now I'm home I miss the people and the activities. Back home again all alone once more! That's what made me go mad (sorry 'into psychosis') in the first place! There are some staff who talk down to you like a child though, a thing that happens often is you are told to knock on the door of the clinic or the nurses' station and you get ignored then when you knock louder because you genuinely think they haven't heard you get scolded. Very unfair. One or two of the staff members are control freaks, one week we can help ourselves to the Sunday buffet, the next week Linancy (for it is she) is hovering over us and deposting the food herself and bossing us about as to how much we are allowed. The previous week Wesley (who is lovely) let us help ourselves! Linancy is a control freak! Also Anja told me off for opening the fridge door in the fancy kitchen as if I were a child. I did not appreciate that. I was looking for something to substitute for icing (which should have been available but wasn't). Anja was very good apart from this I should say. Like I say most of the staff are good, but there are some who aren't. Being talked down to like a child gets old, fast.

I was in here for two months in 2000. I was under sedation due to multiple family deaths leaving me with severe depression. This was a private hospital and my stay was paid for by BUPA, I wonder if it’s still private. I enjoyed my stay here then although I was still severely depressed when I was discharged. Then it was a clinic for men and women, I’m surprised to see it’s now for women only.

the consultants on oakwood ward do not care one bit about you if you are admitted for anything to do with self harm/suicidal ideation or if you have the diagnosis of eupd. from my first ward round, they already spoke about discharging me when they hardly knew anything about how i truly felt. they made me out to be an attention seeker when i was at my lowest and i genuinely believe this was because of my eupd diagnosis. they said i wasn’t even trying to get better but i had opened up a lot to staff & the OT, which is something i find very hard to do and with time, i could have improved a lot more than they allowed me to as they discharged me when they knew it wasn’t safe, their words were ‘it’s not necessarily safe for discharge’ and ‘sometimes professionals have to fail’. does that include when someone’s life and safety is at risk? i have never met doctors who are as ignorant and disrespectful as them. despite this, the occupational therapist, psychologists, activity coordinators, hca’s and nurses were amazing and made my stay bearable. i was 18 at the time and petrified but the staff constantly reassured me that i would be okay even though the ward could be chaotic and frightening. when i needed someone to talk to, they would make time for me, when i needed a distraction, they would draw and dance with me and i truly appreciate those positive moments in such a negative environment! if the doctors actually cared about every patient then my rating would be a lot higher but i can’t get over the fact that i was discharged when i was unsafe and they KNEW that. being discharged when i was not ready has caused many more incidents to occur at home and i am traumatised by a lot of them. i do wonder that if i was offered the right support in hospital then maybe i wouldn’t have had these incidents. but once again i am grateful for the ward staff who helped me get through one of the hardest times in my life <3

DONT GO HERE. If I could give it zero stars I would Awful hospital ! Staff laughed at me when I was extremely depressed and tried to climb the fence to get out. One nurse overdosed me with a double dose twice first time I didn’t say anything and the second time I questioned it the nurse replied saying oh sorry I’m tired. I was 18 years old and they t they used every possible way to take my rights from me a possible when I was sectioned. It’s now a female only hospital, staff knowing I had trauma with men decided to restrain me after an incident and inject me but pulling my joggers down I felt very uncomfortable and exposed and the ONLY qualified was a male to do so !! I gained section 17 leave and went out to the smoking area, I managed to sneak my personal lighter out with me and when I returned to my room began to use my lighter to self harm staff where aware and walked off and when I had calmed down I handed it in when the staff member said I know you had it I just wanted you to remember that feeling and I’m not left with huge scars of such I’ve tried everything to get rid of and won’t go away ! I had come back from a visit home and and incident occurred and my room was stripped I had only just turned 18 a few weeks before and the support worker said “I would never let my child get to this point it’s questionable parenting look around you look at your room you have nothing look where you are” Besides that the only people that made my stay more bareable was OT and Meghan activity coordinator and katie Taylor and Casey and Henrietta support workers.

I stayed here for three months. Some mental health nurses don’t care about the patients when feeling suicidal. A few HCAs were friendly and helpful. They are good at giving company and distracting by playing games with us. The OTs were good at entertaining us. My overall stay was unpleasant since I was there without my consent. I was only discharged few days after I ran out of the hospital.