Patients at Greater Manchester NHS mental health unit 'filmed being subjected to abuse', BBC's Panorama claims

Patients at an NHS mental health unit were filmed being subjected to abuse, it is claimed. Panorama footage shows them being bullied, humiliated, swore at, and taunted, according to the BBC.

The film also purports to show inappropriate use of restraint, according to experts, and faking of paperwork intended to ensure patient safety. As reported in the Manchester Evening News , police have launched a criminal investigation into the Edenfield Centre, a secure unit in the grounds of Prestwich Hospital in Bury. A number staff have been suspended.

The footage is from an undercover Panorama reporter, who worked at the unit from March to June this year. 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'.

Footage, say Panorama, shows some staff mocking patients, who were also filmed on occasion slapping or pinching them.

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Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Edenfield, says it is taking the allegations 'very seriously' and has taken 'immediate actions to protect patient safety'.

The Edenfield Centre, which has 11 wards for men and women, cares for people who are at serious risk of harming themselves or others, including some patients from the criminal justice system. Around 600 staff care for 200 patients.

Panorama claims that some staff swore at patients, mocked them and were seen slapping or pinching them and joking about self-harm. Some female staff behaved in a sexualised way to male patients, it is claimed.

Patients were held in tiny seclusion rooms for days and sometimes months, it is claimed. Paperwork intended to ensure patient safety was frequently falsified, showing some staff