Epworth Mental Health Clinic

Had a few appointments with Dr Mitali Das. Wow! I would recommend anyone to avoid this psychiatrist. She doesn't know how to deal with people who have serious trauma. She said that she wasn't sure she could believe me. Later in I was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, PTSD, Gad, panic syndrome etc.
Please stay away from dangerous psychiatrist like her, I tried to terminate myself after seeing her. Yes, it was that bad.

The nurses are great and all go above and beyond in providing care. The major problem is that there are not adequate Common Area Spaces.

There is the Smokers Courtyard (Which is a positive and essential to a Mental Health Clinic). The only problem is that it's setup so that you have to interact with the other patients. This sounds like a weird complaint and most of the other patients are decent people.

The problem that arises is that the Clinic has a large number of Middle Aged Professional Patients. Why these patients can spend 50% of each year in over 5 admissions per year is beyond me but it's quite obvious that they wish to be admitted to the Hospital. As often and for as long as possible.

If you wish to smoke, get fresh air or even just be in a social environment you only have the Courtyard. This therefore means without fail you will be at least half the time stuck with one of these regulars. It seems weird that other patients should be mentioned in a review but they really are so often there they have become part of the hospital.

If you do not wish to meet Professional Argument Makers (High on Sass but Low on Education), Tramua Dumping Matyrs on the prowl for women half their age, or a self proclaimed member of the Illuminati with the supposed powers of a Warlock then I would advise not to go to Epworth.

The weirdest thing is that anyone who has been a patient or nurse at Epworth read the above they would agree it's not over exaggerated description of these patients. Neither would the disagree that there beyond a the high chance of one of them being in the Epworth Clinic at any given time of the year.

It's a pity that such patients are able to be use a Clinic which in terms of accommodation, care, food, and rooms is of a high standard like a Hotel. Hopefully one day the Clinic will endeavor to create more spaces for patients to congregate.

Staff here are caring and compassionate. They go out of their way to ensure you are ok. It would be good if the vegitarian food options variety was better and tastier. But no complaints re staff.

I went to this hospital as an inpatient in May last year. It was during Covid. Meals were great, psychiatrist could have provided me with more than “I just need to find more purpose in my life” Mmmm that’s why I was there anyway. I loved the nurses and the inpatient day programs. So much so I’ve just left my psychiatrist of 7+ years who I was ok with him but feel more is in line for me. I won’t take the psychiatrist I had last time and hope that by leaving Pine Lodge, that I’ve made the right decision.

The DBT program at Epworth Camberwell is a mess! Also it's not actually therapy as the Manager Justin of DBT stated when I said I thought this was supposed to be therapy he stated "it's not therapy it's giving skills".
In my opinion these are two very different things.
I feel that should have been explained to me before I spent a fortune to go there.

They don't allow you to talk about anything personal in group "therapy " nor share any personal information with the group.
They also don't want people in the group
to form friendships and discouraged us from interacting with each other. Again something that should have been explained before I paid a fortune for the program.

It's Definitely not what I imaged I thought it would be like AA and all the other group therapies I've heard about. This is not a group dynamic. It's a class room.
Again I wish this was explained to me before I spent a small fortune.

It is a class room and the facilitators (educators/psychologists) do not like you to ask questions. Just get through each module of the manual teaching "skills".

Over 3 weeks my one on one psychologists called in sick I was given 3 different ones. He has now quit.
The group therapy also had different educators each week.
Absolutely no continuity which means not being able to gain trust when it's always a different person.
The one on one psychologists are not communicating with the group therapist. Therefor not one of the psychologists has any idea about me. And they are supposed to be there to help us.

I had an extremely bad experience with Lisa Lam and Cara. I spoke to the DBT manager and he refused to answer my questions or discuss there behaviour.
I stated I would like to make a formal complaint, if they could please get me the forms I would then leave.
I was asked to leave- giving me the opportunity to say "no I'll just wait for the forms" Next minute code grey.
I asked Justin the DBT manager what that was, he stated it was for me and security where coming to take me out of the building!

I was never told I had to leave, I was asked to leave leave but not told I had to leave I just said
" no I'll go once I have the complaints form. "

Security came, I left with no forms. No one had to escort me out. I was shocked! I just wanted the complainant form as I was unhappy with the psychologists behaviour.
Then upset with Justin's behaviour and attitude. I was just treated like a number not a person.

In the afternoon I called to request Justin -DBT managers surname so I could make a formal complaint about the conduct of 2 psychologists and himself. In the middle of the call as the receptionist was giving me the names, Lisa one of the psychologists snatched the phone and yelled at me stating she refuses to give out surnames and that she has told the whole hospital if I call again that she will call the police. They don't want me making a formal complaint.

I was absolutely disgusted by their behaviour and attitude. The had no morals and in my opinion acted aggressively and threatened me.
There was no duty of care.

I would highly recommend staying away from this place

This is by far the best private psych clinic in Melbourne. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it is a not-for-profit hospital. Any money that is made goes back into the hospital itself, and no one is profiting from it. I don't think that making money and medicine go well together; hence this place having the best care and an atmosphere where you feel that the managers have worked out what is best for patients, and not just what is best for the bottom line

Worst decision I made sending my sister there. After a couple of days it became clear the inpatient program was no benefit, so we were advised to discharge her and be treated as an outpatient as well as their 'more advanced outpatient programs'. 6 weeks later we got a call to say, sorry we don't have any doctors to help, they are too busy, go and see your GP. Did more harm than good sending her there. Now she thinks no one can help her.

A close family member if mine was admitted to the Epworth Hospital Mental Health As an Emergency realy and he was under the care of Dr Vedi Swaminathan Consultant Psychiatrist who was realy excellent, He was highly professional at all times, treated the patient with empathy and he used the appropriate medication. The Nursing staff at the hospital were excellent, the meals were good Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner hence I did not have the bother of trudging up and down with the meals. On Discharge the patient is yet been seen by Dr Swaminathan once a month who has refereed him for support from the Psychologist for Cognitive behavioural therapy and encouraged the patient to have a good routine with relaxation, exercise, good nutrition, and Meditation. I would recommend the Epworth and the team working there. I have worked in Psychiatry before for 7 year as a medical Officer and I say this with the utmost confidence. Dr Zainab Ozeer. MBBS DPH.

There is a lot I could say, although I'm not vengeful enough to write it. Certainly, I am very hurt. Definitely, overall, one of the best Private Mental Health providers in Melbourne despite my personal experience more recently. Epworth is a great option for the most part. However, I would advise future patients to thoroughly research their Psychiatrist prior to commencing treatment. Since my Epworth Psychiatrist left me with almost no support whatsoever prior to and following a near-fatal suicide attempt recently. I cannot say that I would go back here anytime soon unless I received an apology for what has happened, and the extreme negative impact on my health, studies and life as a whole. My trust in Epworth has been broken almost beyond repair, which is very unfortunate. I was a true supporter of Epworth for a long while. Inadequate monitoring of their staff is an issue at this stage. Inpatient services are fantastic from Ward B especially - very compassionate, I will happily applaud most of Epworth. Flawless night staff. I hate to be able to flaw the place at all, as I think it is overall an asset to Melbourne. However, even one or two reckless Psychiatrists can ruin a hospital. After both experiencing and witnessing a startling decrease in sense of duty of care, inability to communicate with interstate healthcare professionals, a horrific refusal to accept responsibility for current and former patients who have sustained serious damage, etc. I cannot simply keep quiet about this entirely anymore. A Psychiatrist's personal matters should not be allowed to endanger life. This is the truth of it. Epworth, like everywhere, is not perfect. It is still a good option, just be realistic, cautious and informed. I do hope I am not reprimanded for this review. Psychiatry has a culture of 'sweeping it under the rug' - this is too serious. This cannot continue, and prospective patients deserve to be aware of the current issue.