Plagued by safety fears, another critical report on region’s biggest mental health provider
WATCHDOG FINDS ONE WARD NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE AND REPORTS SAFEGUARDING CONCERNS DESPITE EARLIER WARNINGS
GREATER Manchester’s biggest mental health service is still plagued by safety fears, with buildings that do not protect the dignity, privacy and safety of patients, inspectors have again found.
The region’s largest mental health provider has been under scrutiny for almost 18 months after a host of failings came to light.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors rated Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust (GMMH) ‘inadequate’ following an inspection.
In June last year, the watchdog carried out an unannounced inspection after receiving information on concerns about the safety and quality of services.
In their latest findings, inspectors said psychiatric wards and intensive care units still have safeguarding problems, almost half of staff remained untrained in some key areas on one ward and actions have not been taken to tackle safeguarding incidents.
Patients themselves gave mixed feedback about their experiences of care and treatment on the wards. Patients said they generally felt safe on the wards and those that did not reported that this was often due to other patients’ behaviour.
However, patients were concerned about the high levels of bank and agency staff used on the wards and that the quality of care these staff delivered could differ significantly. the report said, adding: “Patients felt that non-permanent staff were less caring and less interested in supporting patients.”
The Poplar ward at Manchester’s Park House unit was “not fit for purpose”, said the CQC report, and the accommodation did not protect the dignity, privacy and safety of patients. There had also been some
“sexual safety incidents” on the Bronte ward of Laureate House in Wythenshawe.
The CQC report comes after a separate review published last week by the NHS, which revealed that some of Greater Manchester’s most vulnerable people being treated by GMMH were abused, their loved ones ignored when they tried to escalate their fears and multiple signs to act on serious failings to their care were missed.
Serious failings of mental health services provided by GMMH have long been reported by the M.E.N..
Stories in recent years have covered young people dying on mental health wards, the doctoring of medical notes, staff involved in racism rows and more than half of Manchester mental health patients not being read their rights.
The trust was plunged into the highest levels of scrutiny by the NHS in September 2022 when a shocking programme featured footage recorded by an undercover BBC Panorama reporter embedded in one unit on the grounds of the former Prestwich Hospital, where GMMH now has a number of inpatient units, from March to June of that year. The hour-long programme about the Edenfield Centre captured apparent humiliation, verbal abuse, mocking and assault of patients – plus alleged falsification of medical paperwork.
The latest inspection by the CQC was carried out on two acute wards for working age adults and one psychiatric intensive care unit across three of the seven locations where GMMH runs the service. The health watchdog said it selected these wards “due to specific concerns that we had received in relation to those wards”, which included:
■ Poplar ward, at Park House, Manchester
■ Bronte ward, at Laureate House, Wythenshawe
■ Priestner’s Unit, at Atherleigh Park, Wigan.
There were inconsistent practices and arrangements regarding safeguarding across the three wards visited, said the report.
The report said staff on Bronte ward did not always have access to keys and alarms when on duty and mixed sex accommodation on Bronte ward was not always well managed.
There had also been specific safeguarding incidents that had not been managed appropriately, although actions were now being taken to address these, said inspectors. The trust insists there have been improvements.
Maria Nelligan, chief nurse at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust said: “We welcomed the return of CQC to our wards last June. “We are pleased they could see progress since their last inspection and we recognise we have more to do in certain areas.
“The report recognised that our staff had a good knowledge of safeguarding and how to raise safeguarding concerns, and that patients felt safe and supported on our wards. Over the past eight months since their inspection, we have continued to work hard to make improvements highlighted in the report.
“For example, we have strengthened safeguarding reporting processes to help highlight concerns. We have also put in additional staffing to better respond to the current demands.”
We are pleased they could see progress and we recognise we have more to do in certain areas Maria Nelligan