Greater Manchester has a unique mental health problem - and people are dying

Mental health services across Greater Manchester are suffering from £90million of under-investment, according to a shocking report. The revelation follows an ‘independent diagnostic’ commissioned by Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board, which concluded the huge shortfall compared to elsewhere in the UK.

Salford’s health and adults scrutiny panel are to be presented with an update on the Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust (GMMHT) ‘improvement plan’ today (November 1). Investment into the plan in its first year has reached £4.7m. This is after the trust was issued with a Section 29A warning notice by the Care Quality Commission in April 2022 when it was deemed ‘inadequate’ following an inspection.

A further inspection in July this year also gave it an overall ‘inadequate’ rating, although there were areas of the service which were upgraded to ‘requires improvement’. GMMHT has nearly 100,000 service users and has 6,700 staff. More than 8,000 students have used its recovery academy over the last 10 years.

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GMMHT has been subject to a series of scandals; including young people dying on mental health wards, followed by admissions medical notes were doctored; harrowing treatment of vulnerable people at inpatient facilities caught on camera; and staff in racism rows, the Manchester Evening News has revealed.

In September 2022, a BBC Panorama programme uncovered scenes of horrific treatment of inpatients at the trust’s Edenfield Centre, capturing apparent humiliation, verbal abuse, the mocking and assault of