St John of God Burwood

Review of Admin Staff (Hoanda) at St John of God Burwood I recently visited St John of God Burwood to enquire about attending group therapy. Unfortunately, my experience with one of the front desk administrative staff—whose name I believe is Hoanda (though she refused to spell it for me and wrote it down in illegible cursive)—was extremely distressing. Rather than being welcomed or supported, I was met with rudeness, hostility, and an unhelpful attitude. She questioned and undermined the reason for my visit, which felt like a personal attack and left me feeling judged and retraumatised. As someone seeking support at a mental health facility, I expected a safe and respectful environment. Instead, I left feeling anxious, shaky, in tears, and significantly re-triggered. A mental health service should ensure that all staff, especially those at first point of contact, are trained in trauma-informed care and basic empathy. The way I was treated made an already difficult step even more painful. I truly hope this feedback is taken seriously so others don’t have to experience the same distress when reaching out for help.

My experience at St John of God Mental Health facility was unfortunately negative. The staff I encountered were unhelpful, unprofessional, and disorganized, lacking empathy and compassion. The facilities are outdated and lack structure, offering little unique or personalized care. I would not recommend this facility to others.

DISSAPOINTING.Better to try elsewhere.Has really gone downhill over the years.

Hada great Dr and great nursing staff. Nothing like the negitive reviews that im seeing here.

I have struggled with serious CPTSD and GAD for eleven years. SJOG staff at times have been fantastic, in particular one or two nurses who are compassionate and professional. As hospitals go, it is not bad but there is definitely room for improvement. My previous psychiatrist was amazing but he left to go OS and the next psychiatrist was beyond atrocious. She had the compassion of a fence post and actually accused me of feigning. Over the years there was pushback from Management re admissions but my previous psychiatrist advocated so well on my behalf. His medication management was fantastic and he actually believed in therapy. He was a rare beast and sadly missed by myself and my family. Since COVID the introduction of some, so called, improvements are ridiculous. Window dressing. They are not running a five star hotel. There is a balance between horrible, hospital like environments and overdoing it and making you feel like your money is being wasted. The real reason you are there gets lost in the traffic. The obsession with CBT and DBT, Groups is conterproductive. The Art Room is one of it's biggest assets. Groups, in my opinion, are more triggering than helpful. The hospitals develop these programs but I just never felt that at any point were those with Lived Experience consulted. Groups are too big, too generic and badly managed with oversharing happening way more than it should. I know this is not specific to SJOB but all Private Mental Health Hospitals. Making it compulsory to attend groups is just plain cruel. Surely if a situation is triggering you should not be forced to stay in the situation. Quite frankly, I often came home more traumatised than I went in. The 21 day program supposedly to fix trauma/cptsd etc is a joke. Some creation by the Private Health Funds.

Absolute discussing treatment took my money no hel

This place is a joke, receptionist is rude, speaks over you, hangs up on you, and when you try to call never answers the phone takes a few calls for me to ring for them to pick up. This is no place for a mentally ill patient to attend.

Do not trust them. It’s a cruel world and they have every intention of keeping it that way for regular people. You are nothing and you will stay as nothing. Their god is an abusive one and you will be abused.

Dr Tham Luu who works here is a horrible psychiatrist. Staff at St John of God are horrible and uncaring. This place is a suicide factory.

My sister was admitted to the Mother and Baby Mental Health Unit at SJOG Burwood suffering from an acute mental health crisis. Even to a lay person it was obvious she was incredibly unwell (nurses even documented other patients approached staff worried about her and asking nurses to help her). My sister was worried about the effects of her medication in her 3 month old baby. The psychiatrists response was to take her off any mental health medication. The staff would not allow me to express my grave concerns for her over the phone (I was not permitted to visit due to covid) My sister (unmedicated and severely anxious and unwell) was finding it difficult in the hospital. Rather than spend time with her and encourage medication they instead encouraged her to discharge They even documented how they had to ‘set boundaries’ and stop her approaching the desk to talk to them about her anxiety They sent her home with no safety plan, no medication or scripts for medication, no arranged follow up with her community psychiatrist or psychologist, no number for the mental health line or any other supports. She jumped off a cliff a few days later. Please do not trust these people with your health or your loved one’s health. The staff are a dangerous combination of lazy, lacking in empathy and low IQ. They should not be allowed anywhere near vulnerable people