Edenfield Centre

BBC Panorama goes undercover and finds patients being humiliated, verbally abused and bullied by staff.

"The one thing you should not do with patients is have a kind of sexualised relationship with them." Seven members of staff were seen sleeping on shift by the BBC's undercover reporter. Among the staff's most important duties are patient observations, or "obs". Guidelines for psychiatric hospitals say they can keep patients segregated for long periods to protect others on the wards. A support worker refused, saying: "You're lucky you've not got a straw fucking bed in there. It should not be used as a punishment or threat, or because of staff shortages, guidelines say. "It's not funny, it's not a joke," Olivia said. The BBC is only identifying patients where they and their families have given consent. Another time, when Claire was due for a weekly injection, she hid her head under a blanket. There's an awful lot of hostility towards patients across all of the wards, which is really concerning." The support worker then pulled aside the patient's clothing and repeatedly slapped her bare skin. Prof John Baker, an expert in mental health nursing at the University of Leeds, said: "It doesn't feel safe.

Police investigating allegations of bullying and verbal abuse at Edenfield centre near Manchester after BBC investigation.

A senior nurse, who was among those watching, laughed and jeered as the patient was slapped. Michaela Kerr, the head of GMP’s public protection department, said: “It goes without saying that these allegations are concerning. “We owe it to our patients, their families and carers, the public and our staff that these allegations are fully investigated to ensure we provide the best care, every day, for all the communities we serve.” Dr Van Velsen, a consultant psychiatrist, said the members of staff acted “like a gang, not a group of healthcare professionals”. A 22-year-old patient, who had in the past stopped eating and drinking because she believed she was overweight, said staff had called her “fat” before claiming they had been joking. Greater Manchester mental health NHS foundation trust, which runs the Edenfield centre, said it was taking the allegations “very seriously” and had taken “immediate actions to protect patient safety”.

Footage shows them being bullied, humiliated, swore at and taunted, according to the BBC.

On another occasion, it is claimed, some staff were filmed trying to give Alice her anti-psychotic medication twice, because there appeared to be a breakdown in communication. “In consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, we are reviewing footage from Panorama with a view to prosecuting anyone who’s captured committing a crime. “We are working closely with local and national partners including NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and Greater Manchester Police to ensure the safety of these services. She is mocked with foul language as some staff hold her down on a bed, it is claimed. The programme, the BBC says, shows that during one 30-minute break from seclusion, Alice spoke about her blanket and teddy bears, comforts which she had been allowed on a previous ward. Some staff then laugh and joke about her, it is claimed. There was a 'toxic culture' among some staff of 'corruption, perversion, aggression, hostility, which was undermining patient recovery', it is claimed. Some female staff behaved in a sexualised way to male patients, it is claimed. The BBC say one patient, diagnosed with schizophrenia, is not allowed to go to the bathroom alone for her own safety. Paperwork intended to ensure patient safety was frequently falsified, showing some staff had done patient observations when they hadn't, it is claimed. The BBC says experts who have reviewed the findings said that in one instance some staff acted 'like a gang, not a group of health care professionals'. The film also purports to show inappropriate use of restraint, according to experts, and faking of paperwork intended to ensure patient safety.

Mental health workers also slapped, pinched and swore at patients in treatment facility, BBC Panorama investigation finds.

Female staff acted in a sexualised way towards men receiving treatment. [schizophrenia ](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/01/schizophrenia-risk-six-times-higher-among-teenagers-smoke-cannabis/)and was unable to go to the bathroom alone for her own safety was slapped on her bare skin by a support worker, in front of a senior nurse who laughed. Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the medium secure unit, said it was taking the allegations "very seriously" and that a number of staff members have been suspended. Another patient who was said to have attacked staff was kept in a similar seclusion room, designed for short-term isolation to prevent immediate harm, for more than a year. The bare room had little more than a mattress on the floor and its walls were scrawled with marker pen. One patient, who reportedly attacked staff at the Edenfield Centre in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, was held in an isolation room for more than a year.

The investigation follows an undercover investigation by BBC Panorama at The Edenfield Centre, based at Prestwich Hospital. It has previously been reported that ...

“In consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, we are reviewing footage from Panorama with a view to prosecuting anyone who’s captured committing a crime. Head of GMP’s Public Protection Department Chief Superintendent Michaela Kerr said: “It goes without saying that these allegations are concerning. The investigation follows an undercover investigation by BBC Panorama at The Edenfield Centre, based at Prestwich Hospital.

Undercover Panorama probe finds staff assaulting, inappropriately restraining and verbally abusing patients at Edenfield Centre run by Greater Manchester Mental ...

It says: “Our service provides individualised care and treatment for people with enduring mental health needs. - A woman, Harley, being placed by force in seclusion by eight members of staff, including managers, and then being restrained on the floor, despite posing no apparent threat to fellow patients or staff. We are currently reviewing the information that has been provided by the BBC and will determine if any further action is required.” “Since then, senior doctors at the trust have undertaken clinical reviews of the patients affected, we have suspended a number of staff pending further investigations and we have also commissioned an independent clinical review of the services provided at the Edenfield Centre.” In response to the programme, the CQC’s interim director of mental health, Jemima Burnage, said: “The footage shown by Panorama is shocking. [Meanwhile, the trust said it had suspended a number of staff](https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/press-releases/statement-in-response-to-bbc-panorama-allegations-5841) pending investigation and commissioned an independent clinical review of the service, which experts interviewed for Panorama said had a “toxic culture”.

Bury South MP Christian Wakeford said it showed a "failure of leadership" at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH). Hospital bosses said ...

"Senior doctors at the trust have undertaken clinical reviews of the patients affected, we have suspended a number of staff pending further investigations and we have also commissioned an independent clinical review of the services provided at the Edenfield Centre." "I fear it's not just a culture of behaviour, but a failure of leadership as well." Bury South MP Christian Wakeford said it showed a "failure of leadership" at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH). "We owe it not only to the patients but to their families to understand how long it's been going on for, how many patients have been affected and just how deep this goes," he said. [BBC Panorama investigation](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63045298) found a "toxic culture of humiliation, verbal abuse and bullying" at the Edenfield Centre in Prestwich near Manchester. An MP has condemned the "horrific" treatment of patients at one of the UK's largest mental health hospitals.

Bury South MP Christian Wakeford said it showed a "failure of leadership" at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH). Hospital bosses said ...

"Senior doctors at the trust have undertaken clinical reviews of the patients affected, we have suspended a number of staff pending further investigations and we have also commissioned an independent clinical review of the services provided at the Edenfield Centre." "I fear it's not just a culture of behaviour, but a failure of leadership as well." Bury South MP Christian Wakeford said it showed a "failure of leadership" at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH). "We owe it not only to the patients but to their families to understand how long it's been going on for, how many patients have been affected and just how deep this goes," he said. [BBC Panorama investigation](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63045298) found a "toxic culture of humiliation, verbal abuse and bullying" at the Edenfield Centre in Prestwich near Manchester. An MP has condemned the "horrific" treatment of patients at one of the UK's largest mental health hospitals.

Undercover footage broadcast during a BBC Panorama programme which aired yesterday evening highlighted alleged verbal and physical abuse of vulnerable ...

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Mind responds to the BBC Panorama documentary looking at abuse at the Edenfield Centre.

We now must see a full examination of the systemic failings of inpatient mental health services in England. The investigation must also draw heavily on the experiences of patients and those close to them. [a BBC Panorama programme which aired yesterday](https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001ckxr/panorama-undercover-hospital-patients-at-risk) evening highlighted alleged verbal and physical abuse of vulnerable patients with mental health problems and autism at the Edenfield Centre, run by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Nurses working at the mental health unit in Manchester are to be investigated by the regulator, after footage of vulnerable patients being subjected to.

“In consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, we are reviewing footage from Panorama with a view to prosecuting anyone who’s captured committing a crime. We have put in place immediate actions to protect patient safety, which is our utmost priority.” “We will co-operate fully with all investigations,” they said. “We’ve opened fitness to practise cases for some professionals on our register. She said: “Patients and other vulnerable people not having access to professional nursing care when they need it because of lack of registered and experienced staff is as much of a risk.” “We owe it to our patients, their families and carers, the public and our staff that these allegations are fully investigated to ensure we provide the best care, every day, for all the communities we serve.”