Mental health scandal unit expected to reopen

CENTRE SHUT FOR TWO YEARS AFTER ABUSE OF PATIENTS EXPOSED

- HELENA VESTY

THE troubled epicentre of a mental health care scandal is expected to reopen after shocking abuse revelations saw it shut for two years, bosses have said.

The Edenfield Centre on the grounds of the former Prestwich Hospital came to national attention after claims that the vulnerable patients there were being abused by staff. In a BBC Panorama programme which aired at the end of September 2022, staff were filmed slapping and pinching mental health patients, mocking and bullying people at their most vulnerable, swearing and humiliating the individuals they were supposed to be caring for.

Concerns about failures by Greater Manchester Mental Health Service NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH), which runs the Edenfield Centre, had been reported by the M.E.N. in the years prior to the Edenfield abuse footage. But admissions to the centre were largely suspended after the Panorama episode, followed by a number of reports and investigations – until now.