Woodstock Lodge — Mental Health Services in Belfast, Northern Ireland

I had an emergency appointment in September First they decided I needed cbt and then they apologised as I had already explained I was on their waiting list for years. They agreed and again apologised I phoned them recently and was told I have only been on the list since September and would have to wait a year This makes no sense

Completely changed my review after recent experience. Staff were condescending and rude, sent my appointment letters to the wrong address for 8 months and only admitted fault after I opened an NHS formal complaint. Mental health worker lied about this to my face and discharged me from CBT, which I had been waiting years for and never recieved. Then complete silence from the service even when they admitted fault. Called up to try and get appointments rebooked and was told I'd be recieving a letter soon. No letter has appeared, and they tell me there's no record of appointments. Reception tried to lie over the phone saying I'd missed appointments, when the fault was them sending the invitation letters to the wrong house. Absolute disgrace of a service

If you want a rundown of what to expect, should you go here: you will be asked to share your experiences with mental health issues, then have each and every one of them explained away. They will continuously provided excuses as to why they can't get you any actual help, neither therapy nor medication. Chances are they'll say you're autistic, need direction, a better diet or more exercise. They'll give you a few leaflets for community initiatives where you can do some fingerpainting once a week or go on walks with similarly neglected mentally ill people. Then you'll wait 8 weeks for your next assessment, hoping this time you might actually be listened to, only for it to be cancelled three times in a row. Repeat until you do something to harm yourself or someone else. Then, once you're out of A&E, or police custody, rinse, lather, repeat. I was privately diagnosed as bipolar 3 years ago. That's how long Woodstock have been "assessing" me. Despite my providing a diagnosis and a treatment plan, I am no closer to receiving any help. Every eight weeks or so, I pay 20 pounds to travel there and back and be told next time I see them, I'll definitely be getting help. I give up, now. I have wasted 3 years of my life waiting for these people to medicate me. And that's with a diagnosis. If you want my advice, get yourself in debt and see someone privately, instead. Don't put your faith in these services like I did.

They are just trying to get through their workload with as little effort as possible. This service will frustrate the hell out of you before you're tossed to the side. This is not what people with mental health problems need. They kept up the 'covid' rules, strictly wayyy after it was over which tells you a lot about how this place is run. Seek help elsewhere is all I can say.

At first I wasn't going to write anything, but I have to because I've felt awful since my assessment. Everyone else saying they won't offer you help is correct. I've felt so desperate for help for such a long time that I let myself hope things would be different. Instead I was lectured about how I need to learn to help myself and told I was not ill enough to attend

Attempted suicide twice and the best they offer is no diagnosis or help but a constant referral to services with a thousand year long waiting list

Dont bother. Best they can do is put you on a 5-10 year long list for a mental health diagnosis if they agree you need one. I went in with delusions, extreme executive dysfunction and frequent suicidal feelings. Got lectured that I’m not suicidal enough. Got told I don’t have a mental illness because I don’t have a letter written and I don’t have a set plan. They handed me a list of seminars to attend, and I left with absolutely no support. I left feeling more hopeless, and more ready to die than i was before I walked in. I’ve been crying for two days.

Genuinely horrendous 'service.' I've been in and out of Woodstock Lodge for a number of years, and I'm certainly not alone in the experiences that I've had, all of them being abysmal. From admin apparently being unable to read and send a letter with correct information on it to patients constantly, to workers who are trying to work within a system that is broken and they don't have any compassion left for people who are at their most hopeless point. I have actually been told by a previous CPN at woodstock lodge, "I'LL be depressed that day on your appointment because it's my first day back from sunny Spain." About thirty seconds after I'd discussed real suicidal ideation and tendencies. This is the tip of the iceberg of wildly inappropriate and unprofessional experiences I've had with people who are trained and SHOULD know better, even without training and just on a basic human decency level. This service is a joke and I am so, so very sorry to anybody who has been referred to this service and had the same or worse experience than me. This service should be ashamed. You are working with people who need more support and help than ever, going througg the worst possible time in their lives, the least that could possible be the BARE MINIMUM is compassion and somebody to genuinely listen to them.

Real people with their own ups & downs who are putting you first. However, they are restricted by a lousy £££ greedy governing body, which in turn has led to a failing National Health Service! They do what they can, & many of them have gone beyond... that's my own experience. For this, I am grateful 🙏

As someone who has been housebound for most of my adult life, I finally mustered the courage to attend with someone for support. However, I was told they could not come in. Refused home visits. Once inside, my experience was FAR from comforting. On two occasions, I was assigned a staff member who repeatedly used the same analogy about hitting a dog with a newspaper and handed me a large disorganized pile of quizzes to complete at home when i could barely think. When I missed my appointment, they canceled my sessions entirely. The second visit was even worse. I discovered that the person assigned to me was a trainee. She accused me of lying about attending other places appointments they sent me to, despite having sign-in proof. Sen't me to a befriending service thst never contacted me again after my first "interview". Keep in mind it's hard for me to leave my home it was a struggle even with support, Frustrated by her treatment (back to Woodstock Lodge), I started recording a conversation to show others how poorly I was being treated. When confronted with my carer who heard the recording and her behavior, she then labeled me as "aggressive" simply because I voiced concerns about not receiving proper care and asked for a care plan. She apologized as I said I never rasied my voice or even moved(I was shaking with anxiety) Many times she tried to convince me not to return when by myself with her. During one panic attack, she left the room for an extended period and just judged me with remarks after I shared personal information. On another occasion, I called to say I couldn’t attend due to a snowstorm and was informed that she was off sick anyway. When I called back on her return date to reschedule. I got a new apointment then showed up and was told she was on sick again. I was assured she would call me back—but instead, I received a letter stating that I could no longer attend because of a missed appointment? Reflecting on these experiences, it feels as though they were trying to push me out. Every time I left that place, I felt worse than when I arrived. One time, I even recorded her telling me outright that there was nothing more they could do for me and that I shouldn’t come back. Sharing this recording with loved ones shocked them; initially, they thought I might be overthinking things, but hearing it changed their perspective entirely. Despite my GP’s repeated attempts to convince me to return, I’ve resolved never to go back. The trauma caused by this treatment—especially the way my experiences were minimized and reworded—has left lasting scars. This was just a fraction of what I endured during those few visits. Sorry if the order is all over the show but I didn't even know where to start. Trust me it was bad as it sounds or worse. I went to a other place who was kind and listened but it's closed now. God bless those who need help and don't give up. <3 I know how it feels. I'm not saying don't go as maybe you will get someone great. I'm just telling you what happened and look at the other reviews