Service User D
Interviewed by Julia Buchanan
Biography
Service-user D was an in-patient at Cotswold House on the Warneford Hospital site for treatment of an eating disorder in the 2000s. She was interviewed by Julia Buchanan in November 2025. She was an in-patient for a period of 4 months, but was then able to return home, with attendance at Cotswold House as a day-patient several times each week. She later stepped down to out-patient management and was eventually discharged. Following her recovery, service-user D was able to complete her qualifications and to start working in her chosen field. She values the creative activities that she did as part of her treatment and continues to do arts and crafts as hobbies.
This excerpt
In this excerpt, service-user D describes the process of being admitted, her first impressions of the unit and her feelings about being there.
The full interview
Topics covered in the full interview include description of the daily routine and treatment activities, and the challenges which she faced along her treatment pathway. Service user D also describes how interaction between patients could be very supportive; she also found being able to be outside in the gardens and grounds of the Warneford helpful. Service-user D describes her gradual recovery and how she was able to interact more with the nursing staff as she felt better. The full interview recording and transcript can be accessed at the Oxfordshire Health Archive.
Transcript of audio excerpt
00:03:03 Interviewer (JB)
Can you tell me what your first impressions were when you arrived there?
00:03:10 Service User D
Yes, so I was obviously quite scared at first because obviously I didn’t really know what to expect or what was going to happen. I remember looking round with my Mum and Dad and obviously because I wasn’t very well, I was just like, “No I’m not going to do that, I’m not coming here.” Obviously, my brain wasn’t in a healthy state. But I just remember going around and looking at some of the patients doing … arts and crafts, that’s really stuck out for me. I went to that room and I just thought, oh, they look like they’re having … a good time doing some arts and crafts. So that was … one of the first impressions that I saw.
00:03:48 Service User D
And then when I went downstairs to … the rooms … where the inpatient rooms were, my impression was that it had some … new rooms and they looked really big and I was like, “Oh, actually, it might not be that bad if I get my own room,” because obviously I thought I might have to share or something. I didn’t know what was going to happen, and I got to choose my room, so I got one of the bigger new rooms, so I was quite pleased with that.
00:04:16 Interviewer (JB)
So, was that … those first impressions … were you just visiting on that day or did you stay on that day?
00:04:25 Service User D
No, so I went for a meeting with one of the dietitians, and I just went to sort of just look round, and then I went in … I think it was the next day I actually went in, because obviously I had to pack my stuff and get sorted before I went in.
00:04:45 Interviewer (JB)
And do you think you felt a bit less scared when you went in [on] the following day than you had the first day?
00:04:56 Service User D
I think I was still quite nervous because I had to go in there and have some medical checks and stuff, and I think I was quite nervous about that. And then I sort of settled in alright I think, after like the first afternoon. But it was the evening I think, I got a bit scared again because obviously I was on my own in this strange place [where] I hadn’t slept before, so I think the first night was quite difficult, I remember, for me.
00:05:27 Interviewer (JB)
And going back to looking around, did you say that you were able to choose your room?
00:05:37 Service User D
Yes, I was able to choose one of the new, big rooms, which was nice because it had a view of the garden. And obviously because it was summer, it was nice that I was able to open the window and look outside and things.
00:05:51 Interviewer (JB)
Okay, well that’s really interesting. What else do you remember about the first few days there?
00:06:03 Service User D
I met some really nice people. All the patients were really nice and welcoming, and they gave me tips and things I could do to help myself. I remember on the first night one of them put a little note through my door just to say who they were and said, you know, “It gets better. And the first few days are a bit difficult, but after that it does get better.”
