Ramsay Clinic Albert Road - Melbourne, Victoria

Nicole H.

I travelled interstate for my 15 year old daughter to be admitted into the youth unit. My daughter suffers from several mental illnesses and her current quality of life is suffering. She was supposed to stay at the hospital for 3 weeks and we were hoping for a diagnosis and medication review along with sessions with a psychiatrist and hopefully a discharge plan. She received a medication review by the psychiatric, who only saw my daughter on 4 occasions and for no more than five minutes. I attempted to make contact with the psychiatrist ( Grace Min) for over one week , i left numerous messages with nursing staff and i went in person to her consulting rooms, i never heard back from her. The youth program is set up so the children attend group sessions daily. During these group sessions, my daughter had minimal time to discuss her issues and when she did , she was not giving any professional advice. By the start of week 3, my 15 daughter was able to discharge herself without my permission. Her words 'It was a waste of time mum, I don't feel any better, I feel worse". We are now back in our home state and my daughter is worse off. To say we are disappointed is an understatement 😔. I will mention that the nursing staff are lovely and kind ( big shout out to Ash) . The hospital and Youth ward is warm and welcoming, just lacks mental health care. I really felt like we had been scammed.

Ian H.

I’m unsure how many times I have been admitted to the Albert Road Clinic – maybe 4 or 5 times over a 5 year period. The greatest accolade I can give the hospital, in particular to the nursing staff, the therapists, & psychiatrist Brent Robertson, is to simply say that I am still here. Am I well? No, not really – realistically, I realise that I will perhaps need further visits in the future, & continued attendance at the day program group to enable further improvement. Fortunately Albert Road supplies these.
So why 4 stars & not 5? The accommodation at Albert Road is very good: private rooms are comfortable & well appointed. In my case as an ‘older adult’, facilities have definitely declined over the period I have attended. Parklands ward became Yarra East & effectively halved in size. The open areas for socialisation are austere at best, & definitely not particularly welcoming, a situation which has not improved since the change/relocation. The kitchen area is sited in the same space as that which hosts the therapy sessions which means tea/coffee etc., is thus unavailable for large segments of the day. The sessions too have diminished in the past few years: a particularly sad loss has been the ceasing of the art therapy sessions.
It has also been obvious that the nursing staff (who are incredibly good), have however been put under more & more pressure. On my first visit there was a ‘craft room’ where a wide range of activities were available & this area was managed via a couple of nurses. These staff are no longer available, which I suppose is OK, as with the move to Yarra East ward, the craft room no longer exists. There are materials still accessible, but there is no-one available to introduce these in any systematic way to patients.
On a more positive note, I think the food has improved greatly in the last couple of years. That said, I’m aware of the difficulty of getting hot (warm?) food to people who, for whatever reason, cannot or do not want to, attend the dining room.
I apologise that this is so long-winded, but I think it is worth having some idea of what the place is like. Overall, I would still have to say that the Albert Road Clinic is an excellent place, where all staff whether nursing, cooking, or whatever, are the beating heart of the place, & their warmth & professionalism more than make up for any demerits. I will always be extremely grateful for the treatment I have received.

James O.

I would strongly advise against seeing "Dr." Matthew Shaw under any circumstances!

From the very beginning, “Dr.” Matthew Shaw displayed a seriously concerning lack of professionalism and empathy. He was disorganised, arriving late with no prior client, and failed to even introduce himself properly. Rather than engaging in thoughtful discussion or listening to my concerns, he ignored what I was asking and offered no meaningful support or validation. His condescending attitude made it clear he had little regard for the emotional or psychological struggles I was facing.

Throughout our interactions, I repeatedly asked for assistance with diagnosing ADHD and OCD, but he showed little interest in providing any actual mental health care.

At one particular point, he even laughed and smiled inappropriately during a serious conversation about suicidal ideation, which felt not only disrespectful but also deeply upsetting. I informed him I was feeling depressed and was seeking medication, which he said would have minimal effect. Ultimately, he left me without any practical solutions when I’d already been desperately struggling for weeks.

When I voiced my concerns again, he offered no solutions—just vague comments that left me feeling extremely unheard. By the end of the session, he claimed to be unclear about what I actually wanted, further highlighting his inability to provide basic care.

Rather than offering solutions or guidance, his approach seemed to add more stress and confusion to an already difficult situation. His behaviour was not only unhelpful but extremely harmful, as it undermined my sense of trust in mental health professionals. He clearly lacks the qualifications and compassion required to help those in need, and I fear that someone else may suffer as a result of his practice.

I honestly walked out of that appointment wanting to jump in front of the oncoming traffic. This man shouldn’t be qualified to practice and someone is going to get hurt like I did.

DO NOT make the mistake of scheduling an appointment. You’ll be worse off. I know some may dismiss reviews, but I urge you to reach out to me directly if you want more details—I'll gladly share my experience and help you avoid this harmful encounter.

Anonymous

This is a wonderful hospital especially for mental health. The staff go out of their way to help patients and are extremely friendly. The patients, once settled, are so friendly too. There is a great vibe here. Some of the therapists that take classes are very good and have a sense of humour too, which some other hospitals lack... All the nurses are fantastic. Rooms are great, with nice ensuite bathrooms and temperature controls. The food is great 90% of the time.

Note to potential new patients:
although there is about 100 beds, there is separate wards, and 3 levels, so you don't need to worry about congestion. For example, "Sandridge" ward has 28 beds on level 3, and the other side of level 3 ward "Wren" has about 20 beds I think. There is often times when some beds are vacant. "Yarra West" ward which is for AOD (Alcohol and Other Drugs) has 12 beds and is on level 2. There is a specific ward for adolescents and a ward for older patients.
Every ward has lounge rooms with TV'S and there is gym facilities. There is ample space for everyone.
There is also a secure dedicated comfortable smoking area, where patients from any ward can mingle and a new garden area with seating for people who want true "fresh air" LOL!

Visiting times and leave times are very flexible and will depend on your arrangement with your psychiatrist.

Morning meeting with your ward is from 9.15-9.25am.. this is where new patients are welcomed, everyone says their name, compliments and complaints are raised etc. etc. Group walk is usually from 9.30-10am up to the Shrine of Remembrance or the Albert Park lake. Afternoon walk is for about an hour and is often to the botanical gardens. Classes are held from 10.30-12pm then 1.15pm-3pm.
Coffee machines are available from 7.30am-6.30pm.

However, I would like to make a suggestion to management, that each patient should be issued with a water bottle on admission with a name sticker, to use for medication times, and a mug for coffee, because with approximately 100 beds, we would go through 1,000 paper cups per day... that's a LOT of trees in a week! And many patients I've spoken to have had the same idea, and written suggestions but no communication has come back from management unfortunately.

If management wants to save some money, (to spend on more important things for the patients), they should also retrofit all room temperature control units with a 30 minute default shut-down, as is used in most private hospitals. As a patient you can easily extend the time to be longer, but if you are forgetfull or leave your room often, it is very easy to forget to turn off the air conditioner/heater.

Laney

Amazing experiences over the 8 years I have been visiting inpatient and outpatient. I have always felt heard and understood within this facility and would recommend it highly. Cleaners are so kind, kitchen staff make the best food (the curries were my favourite), nurses are dedicated and friendly, psychologist, psychiatrists and gps are all very professional and take their job in helping you recover/stabilise very seriously. As for outpatient, can’t recommend it enough, life changing and supportive.

Duane C.

Brilliant service always; warm friendly smiles and kindness all around. Dr Maria Andrzejewski is amazing!

Claus S.

An absolute disaster in management. Their phone screening makes it impossible to contact them. My doctor sent them a referral 8 months ago and I have been unable to engage despite dozen of attempts to call. I'm lucky my issue is not life threatening or I'd be dead by now. The Victorian Health Commission and ACCC needs to take action against this awful place as soon as possible and I encourage every other person affected to contact the Health Complaints Commissioner ASAP.

Arun V.

Its just ZERO star for the service of Professor Louise Newmann

We have applied leaves at work and drove all the way from WEST - expecting that we would be assured of the reason for our 2.5 year old's language delay, rubbing the private parts etc..

What I expected was there would be a team of psychiatrists assessing my kid with some live games/puzzles just to read my kid's behavior and help us on what's going wrong and a mitigation plan to overcome it.

We come to psychiatrists as they know more than a pediatrician or GP can - Just writing/noting down what we said on paper and suggesting we send our kid to daycare, providing a referral to Children's Hospital and a referral to pediatrician , there is no point in paying so much money.

We can get those referrals well from the GP !!

Last year the pediatrician also did the same thing - he didn't do anything apart from writing down what we said without assessing the child.
Thursday(13th June 2024), Louise Newmann just followed the same footsteps.

In a nutshell, we are not happy with your service at all apart from losing precious time and money.