Gail Porter claims The Priory ‘told me to order a cab when I revealed I couldn’t afford £5k-a-week fees’
Star tried to check into the facility after suffering from depression but couldn't afford their fees
GAIL Porter has hit out at celebrity rehab facility The Priory after she was told to 'call a cab' in a dispute regarding their £5,000 a week fees.
The London centre, based in Roehampton, has previously treated celebrities such as Kate Moss, Kerry Katona and Jade Goody.
TV presenter Gail, 45, entered the facility to fight her depression and having an accidental overdose in 2005.
The star's locks fell out the same year after being diagnosed with alopecia.
Speaking to The Daily Record, she said that she felt "dazed and confused" during her assessment, and that a nurse compared her mental health to "a car running out of petrol and not functioning properly".
She said: “There was a lot of paperwork and when she got to the final bit, she said: ‘Right, well it’s £5,000 a week, are you going to pay by credit card?’"
When she admitted to the nurse that she couldn't afford the fees, she was told she should "order a cab".
Gail added: “I understand it’s a business, but at that point on that day, it was all a bit daunting.
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“I remember walking down the long corridors and thinking: ‘How on earth do I get out of here?’, ‘Where’s my taxi?’ and ‘I hope it’s got petrol – unlike me.’”
Despite her less-than-helpful experience at the facility, Gail does say that some friends who were able to afford the fees- which now stand at around £6,800 a week - found their stay beneficial to their health.
She said:“There’s not the right kind of help out there for a lot of people and unfortunately a lot of it is money-based.
“If you can’t afford the right kind of help, people feel that they have nowhere to go."
The site has recently been branded 'unsafe' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who monitor its' practices after a series of suicides and self-harm incidents came to light.
In the inspection, the CQC branded the facility as 'requiring improvement' in four out of five areas observed during the inspection.
The Priory spokesperson told The Sun Online: “We cannot comment on individuals, but our recent patient survey shows high satisfaction rates with our services. In our acute mental health services, 86% of patients said they would recommend Priory to a friend, and 98% said they were treated with dignity and respect.”
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