What is the difference between a psychiatric ward and somewher like the priory?

[mulranno]

apologies first off for mentioning the priory - but I dont know how to define this time of residential thearpy....is the difference that one is more "serious" or acute that the other or that someone else refers you ie psychiatric unit....I really need to sort my head out into year 11 of on off depression (x2 post natal + major grief all lasting 2-3 years and a current 4th bout - no "excuse" this time but probably not go thru the last one) I really need to get better as my childrens childhoods, my marriage, career afmily, friends and general health are all blighted by this cant do this much longer - cant inflict the horror of it all on anyone else anymore, so I need some residential support. do i just see my GP//?

Psychiatric hospital- very seriously ill people, funded by NHS so can only take the worst due to limited resources and bed shortages.

Priory- private clinic, for whoever wants and can pay.

The Priory offer day treatment (as an out patient) as well as inpatient, residential. Your GP can refer you but inpatient care is usually (but not exclusively) for patients who are a risk to themselves or others. Either way you're likely to have to see a psychiatrist who will recommend which and what type of therapy options could help as well as meds. If you are self funding, inpatient care is very expensive but you can push for this. If you are using insurance you must have a GP referral usually anyway and the Insurance company will probably want your psychiatrist to complete various forms.
I would suggest you see your GP, get a referral and take it from there.

Psych hospital usually for people who have made genuine suicide attempts, people experiencing acute schizophrenic or manic symptoms.

Yes, see your GP who can refer you for the appropriate treatment.

Argh stupid phone sorry! Psych hospital usually for short term crisis management, for adjusting meds and ensuring patients safety. I wouldn't say you would find yourself in a psych ward for long term chronic depression.

One is NHS, one private

Scheherezade - your comments about "genuine suicide attempts" sounds really ignorant

Are you suggesting depressed and suicidal people who seek private treatment aren't "genuine"?

To get in somewhere like the Priory you need a GP referral (IME its rare that a private facility will accept self-referrals)

And a psychiatrist would need to assess you first to deem what treatment is most appropriate (it might not be in-pt care)

The NHS often refers pts to private facilities for specialist treatment of if there are bed shortages

Private Units are subject to the same rules/regs/standards etc as NHS ones

I know someone who booked herself into The Priory (in Cheshire).

Some of the things she said about being there are, they were very kind, and the atmosphere was very calm and quiet. She was a bit surprised that she wasn't allowed to lock her bedroom door, and iir, there was no lock on the (ensuite) bathroom door. If she shut her bedroom door, as I recall, she was required to hang a towel over the top of it, so it wasn't fully shut. I think this is so that no-one can have the privacy to harm themselves.

The room she had was like the rooms you get in a Travel Lodge. Basic, but comfortable.

I don't think it's cheap, but she didn't stay there for very long, only about 3 or 4 weeks, and she then went back to see the psychologist/ counsellor regularly as an out-patient.

I think it gave her the space she needed to clear her mind, and I believe the practitioners are excellent.

I think if you can afford it, it is worth trying for a place like this, as the intensive nature of the treatment is more likely to have a lasting benefit than trying to get better with an hour a week of therapy and 'real life' in between.

Hugs for you, mulranno. I hope you find a way to recover.

To clarify both The Priory and NHS psych wards are for acute illness.
Similarly, you can be sectioned in The Priory - the real difference is the service and therapy options available and cost.
However, if your chronic illness is getting worse it may have become acute.
This might seem like semantics but from a insurance perspective they (usually) won't fork out for management of a chronic problem so may sure you spell out to the GP that things are getting worse. Best of luck.

Thanks for the insult.

I meant someone who has made a serious attempt at suicide and is deemed unsafe to return home.

Someone who shot themself in the head, I would say, is a higher risk than someone who is able to call for help before doing anything.

I'm not saying either person is more or less deserving of help, just that different help /treatment/support is required. Same as someone who has a broken leg and can get a taxi to A&E, and someone who is having a heart attack and needs a transplant. Both need help, just different types. One can be helped at home, with intensive support, the other needs close monitoring on a ward.

Maybe that's just ignorance.

Psychiatric hospitals cater for people with varying degrees of mental illness with forensic and/or clinical histories eg:
Medium secure, low secure, PICU (psychiatric intensive care units which are the short term crisis placements posters have referred to), rehab (which is probably the most similar to Priory hospitals) which are unlocked wards.

Psychiatric hospitals can be NHS or private and obviously if you want to you can get a referral to a private psychiatric hospital you can. Not all patients are detained under the mental health act, some are informal patients who can leave if they choose.

I would speak to your GP if you have a good relationship. They will be able to put you in touch with MH services who can give you support and help find the services you need.
Good luck x

Thanks everyone I think that I am in the "chronic that has become acute" bracket ... I read aquote about depression recently that says "it develops slowly and then suddenly" and another one on burn-out where everyone can pin point the moment the lost it and had to leave work...I am close to that hence my GP prescribing tranx on top of my AD as considers I am in an agitated state...tho am currently "holding it togther" or (so I think at work - was hardly in this week as my boss is away and I have panic attacks on the way in) - home is melt down territory ... will see my GP again on Monday

In the UK the NHS tries to treat people on the community as much as possible, there are a few teams who cater for this. The community mental health team (CMHT), the crisis resolution team (CRT), and for people experiencing psychosis there is the Early Intervention team (EIT).

People in private hospitals have insurance or money, people in NHS acute psych wards generally don't. This does mean that overall people in acute wards are likely to be more unwell - you can be referred to a private hospital when an NHS ward wouldn't even consider admitting you, but as others have said, you can be sectioned in a private hospital, so they clearly do get some severely ill people.

In my experience (and I have been in both) you will get far, far more support and therapy in a private hospital. It is also a far nicer environment, nicer rooms, better food, more available staff around, more group therapy, more activities etc. NHS wards vary, but most have a fairly limited programme of therapy/groups etc, partly due to lack of money and staff shortages etc, and partly because a lot of patients are too ill to engage in therapy.

If you have insurance you would need to be referred by your GP rather than checking yourself in for financial reasons - the insurance company will want a medical recommendation. Check your health insurance covers you for inpatient psychiatric care - many don't.

notnowbernard, do you not understand the difference between "genuine suicide attempts", suicide attempts as self harm, suicidal thoughts, and "just" suicidal idealsations? All of which are serious and deserving of help, but to different degrees of potential threat to the patient.

I rather suspect that this spectrum of mental spaces is what Scheherezade meant, rather than any display of ignorance...

i'm not sure if they can legally force you to stay in the priory (in Scotland) as they are not technically a government agency but i may well be wrong. you can be in the nhs for depression , but as previously pointed out it you normally have to be a confirmed danger to yourself (purely down to lack of beds n cash). a worrying amount depends on your GP, which brings me to why i'm replying. if you are sick and your GP doesn't agree to help you please just go to a different doctor. i was told a 9 year old cannot be depressed (even with self harm to show him & my mum on my side) and it was because i was a vegetarian . never underestimate the human power to be a twit every now and then, doctors are a daft as the rest of us. Oh, you will spend a lot less time as an inpatient in private facilities but that's the joy of capitalism

5 year old thread??