The Victoria Clinic

Update. Generic response they'll "investigate" but *crickets* for months ofc. I'll also report this hosptial to the Health Complaints Commissioner.

Scarily incompetent. Avoid.

-
To all those looking & deciding, take the 2.3 stars this place has overall as a coin flip;
You may have a good experience or a complete nightmare. The potential for further trauma here is extremely high.

Don't leave your health to a coin flip. There are better services. I work in this sector & went in for a relatively simple medication rectification.

I was horrified.

As others in reviewers here have observed

The environment feels unstable & disorganized. I couldn't agree more.

The nurse to patient ratio is low, the nurses are burnt out, the 'tech' is sub-standard for this type of facility - nurses/doctors forced to use multiple paper charts causing numerous administrative errors, medication errors (dangerously over or under dosing patients) information being relayed inconsistently & incorrectly, that confusion/agitation then flows through staff to patients. Cost cutting so much that such mistakes are inevitable

Patients are then a target for that agitation with some staff then acting very unprofessionally, defensive, & aggressive, some exhibiting outright bullying behavioral tactics (stonewalling, yelling etc).

There is no avenue available to get support for these issues. The Managers are some of the more aggressive defensive hot headed ones with their own staff afraid of them. There are even reviews here from former staff about how awful management is!

Sadly this facility seems to be circling the drain since I last visited (3 or 4 years ago when I gave it 3 stars). A lot of the good nurses have jumped ship to better hospitals. I met one such nurse who gave me a knowing look about how different other hospitals are run; far more person centered, well trained & resourced.

They have also claimed to go "smoke free" which in fact has just turned into "Clients must leave the grounds completely to stand out on the sidewalk if they smoke" which presents an even higher workload for nurses (checking in and out clients) as well as safety issues & risk

Despite the wonderful doctor I had, good groups, I was also forced to discharge due to how risky it was being there, caused by mismanagement & that unstable, chaotic environment; then coerced into signing a waiver.

I feel for the nurses. Some are lovely & I encourage the nurses to unionize if not already, advocate for better conditions so that there is reduced burnout by staff (a danger for clients). Nurses will be the first thrown under the bus when mistakes are inevitably made. The environment is toxic & you need to advocate for clients as well as yourselves. Weed out the good from bad. I did enjoy it when it was smaller, the staff weren't quite as overworked & a lot more pleasant to deal with.

I warn those reading. Your welfare is at risk using this service, & I would encourage you to look toward other service providers such as Cabrini or Wyndham etc. Nowhere is perfect but this place is circling the drain.

Hopefully in a few years they'll have either ironed out the kinks or they'll end up sued eventually when something tragic. I am certain they're already dodging lawsuits & don't doubt tragedies have happened.

I'll also be reporting some of the dangerous behaviors I've seen: hot heated staff yelling at patients, nurses bullying those who point out admin issues, dangerous medication mismanagement, policy confusion & lack of protocol understanding among staff. There is fear even among staff of other staff.

It's an unsafe place in need of investigation.

As a consumer advocate, & someone who works in the sector I cannot ethically stand by not saying anything. This is a long review, but short compared to the feedback I'll be submitting.

Whilst consumers don't have the power the hospital does the more reports that get made saying these same things over & over cannot go ignored.

Look after yourselves. You're a human worthy of dignity & respect; Don't let anyone make you think otherwise.

Went in to make an enquiry at this clinic and found the reception staff to be extremely rude. Was looked up and down by the receptionist and treated with no respect.

I have reported this hosptial to the Health Complaints Commissioner and they are going to further investigate, I have spoken to many other people who went here who are also reporting this hosptial - which should be alarming.

There have been multiple instances where constant misinformation was being provided, which has costed excess money, time and is extremely daughting for vulnerable people.

A handful of staff at TVC are as good as most staff are at other facilities, but most are effectively useless in helping people in distress. Many agency nurses.

All kinds of banging and crashing begins at 5 AM and only stops after medication times. The doors for cleaning staff are heavy and constantly being banged and equipment crashes around the hallway. Other patients said these constant loud noises were very triggering. All rooms have security locks so there is constant beeping and banging of doors.

One nurse in particular, Kasey, made it clear that management was very "proud" of the new building and so didn't like people putting notes on their doors because it ruined the image of the hospital.

She told me that staff only did checks in patients' rooms at 12 and 3 PM. I told her that that clearly wasn't true because staff had been coming in many times throughout the day, not just into my room but all other patients too. She said that more checks would be done if staff were "concerned" about patient wellbeing and to see if they were breathing.

When she later contradicted this point in the same conversation minutes later, she said that this was a "flippant joke" and she "apologised". When I told a family member about this, this was reflected to me as Kasey making a "joke" about patients killing themselves.

Kasey treated me as if I was being deliberately antagonistic. Kasey demonstrated no empathy for my fatigue or the anxiety that was increasing as this conversation occurred. Despite me literally crouching on the floor in front of her and having difficulty breathing, Kasey continued to berate me.

Shortly after, because of the severe anxiety I was admitted to The Victoria Clinic for in the first place being exacerbated by Kasey's relentless admonition, I asked for a PRN to help me calm down.

I wasn't able to put the medication cups into the bin between when Kasey gave them to me and when I sat back down into the chair I had been in. I obviously hadn't noticed that I had dropped the cups near the bin because I was in a state of panic: shaking, nauseous, dizzy and unable to move or think clearly.

Despite all of this, Kasey returned and said to me in a condescending and cruel way "didn't quite make it to the bin? " about the cups on the floor. I was in utter disbelief and shock that I was being given absolutely no support as I was having a panic attack right before her eyes and her priority was instead to make a sinister comment.

I was left alone to have a panic attack in that chair after being given the medication and simply told to go lie down.

This behaviour was intentionally callous and exhibited a purposeful and sadistic intention to mock someone in pain for her own amusement.

Having spent many years in therapy on this very pattern of abuse by authority figures, I was very much retraumatised by this occurring yet again in a place that is supposedly designed for healing.

I stayed in October 2022.1 I was gas lightered on several occasions. 2nd Dr Singh shouldn't even be practicing how on earth is he still practicing. 3 the games they play are pathetic they belong in a kindergarten not in a hospital setting.and then my discharge papers yeah right lies lies and more

My 3 week stay here was harmful to my mental and physical health. Critically understaffed and was forced to suddenly relocate rooms 3 times during my stay with no warning, the environment felt unstable and disorganised.
I am also Type 1 insulin dependent diabetic and was forced to surrender my medications and management to the hospital; my diabetes was horribly mismanaged. I was supposed to attend a 4 week program but was forced to discharge due to extreme distress caused by the mismanagement of my health and the unstable, chaotic environment of this facility.
Additionally, as a result of the disorganisation and understaffing, my personal property and medications were misplaced several times, even resulting in delays in insulin delivery because it had been lost during a sudden room relocation.
I entered this hospital depressed and anxious, left highly agitated, mistrustful, and feeling suicidal.
This clinic is not a safe, stable, or equipt environment for mentally vulnerable people, and is actively dangerous for any patients with physical health problems.

PLEASE ADVOID DR. WARD AT ALL COSTS. YOU WILL LEAVE FEELING MUCH WORSE THAN BEHORE. TERRIBLE PRACTITIONER.

Overall Victoria clinic was very professional and very helpful during my stay. The staff are lovely and are very upfront and honest about their capabilities. I felt very comfortable throughout my stay, the food was lovely. My only feedback would be that currently there is a shared room policy and unfortunately that did interfere with my mental health recovery. However I do understand that they are currently expanding the clinic because they understand shed rooms is an ideal. I also feel as though the staff are incredibly diverse in a sense of gender and ethnicity which I haven’t seen the other clinics. So if you’re a person of colour or queer this place definitely has staff that share demographics with minority groups. Are you for stars because I think there’s always room for improvement in the mental health department and that 2.2 stars overall for this place isn’t warranted given how well myself and the people around me were taken care of.

DO NOT STAY HERE. It will only compound your mental health difficulties in the long-term. It is a for-profit private hospital and it shows- from the physical conditions (peeling wallpaper, ant-infested, shared rooms, lack of working wifi, the inedible food) to the disgruntled nurses and many agency nurses, and if you check your health insurance charges they will charge for things that didn’t happen (daily 50 minute psychiatrist appointments that in reality were 2-3 minutes, private room when you were in a shared room etc).

The 4 week schema therapy inpatient program was negligent and disorganised and unhelpful, and in my opinion thrown together so they could charge my insurance $18k. I received no psychological support whilst doing this program from any staff member as 1: 1 sessions were not part of the program or hospital schedule- I was alone. A different person run the program each day of the week so there was no consistency. A friend I made during the program who had been clean from drugs & alcohol for 7 years and had a young family, who joined the program to get help for her traumatic past, was so distressed by the lack of care that she checked herself out early, and relapsed, spent 6 months spiralling and then tragically died. The last thing people with mental health struggles need is to be further exploited and abused by a organisation offering “help” but practicing negligence and a lack of genuine interest in treating patients, and motivated by a financial bottom line.

I’m sure some staff members have good intentions, but they are undermined by the shareholders.

Hopefully the mental health system will have tighter regulation in future so that places like this will be audited for their practices against a strict standard of care, and this place would be shut down.

First time patient and hopefully the last time. Special thanks to nurse Vicky she was incredible. The majority of staff tried to do the right thing, but there appears to be an overuse of under trained agency staff. Had a one on one with a male psychologist. After being told we only had 30 minutes and would never talk again - he asked what should we talk about? I had been transferred from the Alfred after major arm surgery and there were serious concerns about my mental health. This was not the type of help I was after. Choose your doctors carefully.

This hospital feels safe and clean. My psychiatrist is called Carolyn Ward, I did have Atima Saxena but she handed me to Carolyn because she understands autism very well. The Alfred has mis-diagnosed me but Carolyn sorted it all out. She gives me hope I can get better. The nurses are amazing. Frankie is a student nurse who is one of the best staff members. The receptionists are all kind. Laundry service is good. Food is really varied and nice. I finally found a place I have been able to heal. BUT they cut the amount of art! Art is so important! Offer more art!

Was a very good experience for almost two weeks and I think this place can help a lot of people who need the help and I would highly encourage anyone with no hope left to administer themselves here. Almost all staff are amazing and the programs and routine they run are amazing, the food is also far better than I expected. However you can never trust anyone. Upon arrival I was assured I was free to leave at any time. This turned out to not be true and after a very rough few hours I attempted to leave on my own accord and the nurses tricked me into speaking to my emergency contact for about half an hour until they could get cops in. For a mental health facility to call in police to pepper spray, cuff and leave a patient with serious carpet burns and take them away to a psych prison is not a good facility. If you’re on your last legs I would recommend checking in here, but beware that it is not a voluntary clinic as they try to make it out to be. As previously said though most staff are very helpful and incredibly caring.

My family had enormous problems with Carolyn Ward when we all helped my uncle with severe mental illness. The doctor was always late and many times cancelled at the last minute - he went into hospital and she told him she had to go away for the entire time he was in there. So he was alone in hospital - sometimes saw another doctor who did not know his history. Our entire family was helping my uncle and he was worse for his time in this clinic. Doctor seems more unstable than any patient - doctor offered no apology or explanation or follow up

3/5 because its overall a good facility but (some) management and policy need work.:)

I had some issues that were able to be discussed with me, and whilst I wasn't able to get the resolution I wanted, the manager that stepped in for the previous manager I was speaking to was extremely helpful and respectful. They do restrict some medications needed for recovery and have risky policy that make it unsafe to use whilst at risk this is due to some faulty, confusing policy that hopefully will be rectified as it seems to be a bit outdated.

But generally, great programs, great staff, great food. Reasonable consumer engagement - Ideally I would like to see more consumer reps at meetings and in policy development but hopefully heading in the right direction. Some staff/prescribers can be questionable. But I believe or at least am hopeful, that the facility works toward improvement in this area.

Completed the outpatient DBT program here. High staff turnover made it difficult to form working relationships. Midway through my program the individual sessions were cut (a major factor in many people's decisions to do DBT at The Vic Clinic) due to cost cutting, making this a DBT skills group rather than the actual DBT program we had signed up for. Additionally I was left without support for a 6 week period while replacement staff were arranged. Overall it appeared that management made it very difficult for staff to do their job.

This hospital is disgraceful, so is the GM! She has absolutely no ethical standard. They have a GP working there who charges every patient for a consultation regardless of whether he actually conducts the consultation. The GM has been told about this many many times by many patients and does nothing about it. Apparently she is ok with Fraud being conducted in the hospital she manages. I went over her head to get it dealt with and it seems Healthscope really don't mind Fraud. If you're a dirty Doctor, I highly recommend you working here. If you're a patient, I suggest you monitor your health funds closely, because this is why health insurance premiums go UP, when claims are being charged.
Oh, and for having the guts to report the GP over the GM's head, she banned me. Absolutely zero ethics.

I wouldnt even give this place a half a star! The experience my dad got by Dr Singh is unbelievable,
He was told by a doctor that he should be seeing someone other then DR SINGH, but no this DR SINGH has demanded he seen my dad. My dad was happy to see him this morning but dr singh refused to see him and discharged him. Refused to give him his medication also. After I gave permission for him to be discharged with ihis medication. My dad has really bad depression hence the reason why he was there, and the dr singh man didnt make it any better. I will not be sending my dad there again I will now be on the hunt for another place that WILL HELP HIM OUT. DR SINGH has also left me very rude voice messages witch will be kept for evidence.

I have had several experiences with various private psychiatric hospitals in Melbourne. My aunt has needed to be hospitalised a number of times for major depression. There seems to be a problem with the general format of this and other private psychiatric hospitals. The psychiatrists only take care of their own patients via very short visits that occur once every few days, The rest of the time the patients are taken care of nurses; the English and Irish nurses seem to be the only ones who are really trained as psychiatric nurses.i am studying medicine and although I am only in my second year, I do think I have enough understanding of this profession to suggest that being a psychiatric nurse - especially when the psychiatrists aren't around very much - is something that Australia should consider basing on the English/Irish model.i believe it should be a speciality as it always seems that the best care comes from those who have trained specifically as psychiatric nurses, which really makes sense.

I am not sure about the model o having psychiatrists coming in for short periods of time to see their own patients and no others. My aunt was left in this hospital in a terrible state of confusion and delirium after her psychiatrist told her she couldn't cope with seeing her anymore and would not be returning to visit her again. This psychiatrist did not inform the nurses of this and my younger cousin, who is my aunt's daughter went to visit her mum here. She found her in her room in a confused and terrified state. My cousin was only 20 and in tears and wandering around the hospital asking various nurses what anyone was doing to help her very distressed mother,

No one went with her to see my aunt/ her mother- and she was told to go home and phone her mother's doctor. I went in the next day and could not believe what I saw. The doctor had abandoned my aunt in a terrible state, and none of the nurses were informed. Thee was no care for the patient and no care for her young daughter who had appealed for their assistance through her tears.

I don't know what the relationship between the individual doctors and the hospital is, but I no longer trust this hospital at all and I would urge others to make sure that they have a very stable, kind psychiatrist before trusting the organisation with someone they love. Psychiatrists do have their own breakdowns, and it seems that this particular psychiatrist was far more unwell than my aunt has ever been What I learned had gone on was truly shocking,

On the other hand, if your psychiatrist is strong and stable, then I am sure the situation would be fine, But the psychiatrists are not employees of the hospital, so they cannot be dismissed for dangerous, negligent behaviour. The hospital manager would have to go through the process of mandatory reporting and of course this does not make for a trusting workplace either. It is simply all wrong because it puts patients at risk

This particular psychiatrist is still working as far as I can tell, and she is very very selfish to do so. She cancels endless appointments, and is so clearly mentally unstable. She must know this and she owes it to her patients to stop practising until she is more stable. It is actually disgraceful that the hospital doesn't do something about this woman.

I would not recommend to anyone. Horrible staff and anyone who speaks up is sadistically bullied and mocked.

Great facility that caters to a wide variety of personnel with extensive health requirements. The staff are accommodating and face adverse challenges on a daily basis. The weekly planner is full of excellent classes for clients, the weekly class planner is also open to client suggestions, all classes are run by trained professionals holding accreditation.