Scandal-rocked mental health services hit with 'inadequate' rating as hospital wards branded unsafe

Greater Manchester’s scandal-hit mental health services have been served with another warning notice to improve after inspectors found wards for older people were unsafe.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out unannounced inspections of wards for older people with mental health problems at Woodlands Hospital in Little Hulton, Salford, run by Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust (GMMH). The investigation was prompted by ‘concerns received about the safety of the wards and the care and treatment being provided in the wards’.

In a report published today (February 17), the CQC revealed the wards have been downgraded from a good rating to inadequate following the inspection in November. It found that nursing associates - not registered nurses - were left in charge as there was a lack of qualified nurses, staff had not completed life-support training, risk assessments, handovers and care plans were incorrectly completed, and that wards were physically unsafe with ligature risks.

The latest inspection comes after months of turmoil for GMMH, including undercover footage broadcasted last year on the BBC Panorama programme, appearing to show staff bullying, humiliating and mocking patients at the mental health unit, the Edenfield Centre.

READ MORE: Scandal-hit mental health services branded unsafe and ordered to change amid patient abuse allegations

Following the Panorama programme, GMMH overall was served in November with warning notices to improve after inspectors found the service to be unsafe over the summer. Since the episode aired, multiple investigations have been launched and NHS England has placed the trust 'in the equivalent of special measures’.

The trust has also been under scrutiny after three young