Final Prestwich ‘forensic’ mental health wards reopen to admissions
This week, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) advised that that the Edenfield Centre, which provides medium secure adult forensic mental health services, is now in a position where it can be reopened to admissions following the reopening of the Lowry Unit, which provides low secure services, in December 2024.
The decision to reopen these services was made after extensive work over the last two years to significantly improve the service and commissioning an independent clinical review of the re-engineered service. This means that with service user engagement, the first new service user will likely be admitted later this month.
GMMH, who run the facility, say its plan, supported by Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board and NHS England, has been to reopen its Adult Forensic Services (AFS) in a sensitive, phased approach with the Lowry Unit first, followed by reopening the Edenfield Centre to admissions soon after.
Carol Harris, Chief Operating Officer at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH), said "significant work" had been done, in collaboration with service users and their families, to improve ward environments, develop a clinical model to improve patient safety, and recruit and retain skilled, kind and compassionate staff.
“We are now in a position to safely and sustainably reopen the wards to be able to admit new service users gradually" she said.
“Significant steps have been taken across Adult Forensic Services to improve ward environments to ensure that they are safe and provide our service users with a positive experience
“Our aim is to look after people in the least restrictive environment possible and support people to recover and return back to the community in a safe and supported way,” she added.
Karen Howell, Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH), said: “Re-opening first the Lowry Unit last December and now the Edenfield Centre to admissions are significant milestones for our service users, their families and their carers. Most importantly, this means that we can bring people closer to their home to receive the services they need.
“We are sorry for the failings in the past and we continue to reflect and learn, but under the Trust’s new leadership there has been a real focus on getting the basics right which is already leading to improvements in care
“We have refreshed and improved our clinical training offer to ensure our staff are supported to keep their skills up to date, and have seen a reduction in staff vacancies and turnover.”
“We know we still have a lot to do to improve our services and are absolutely committed to this work. We are very clear about what needs to be done and we are working with our service users, their families and our staff to build on the positive changes already made to create the conditions in which our staff can deliver care safely and our service users receive high quality care.”
Plans to reopen to admissions included GMMH responding to the recommendations of an independent review, as well as feedback from Care Quality Commission (CQC) visits. The Trust has received scrutiny and support from NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care and NHS England to provide further reassurance that the necessary steps forward have been taken to embed and maintain improvements to provide high quality care for service users.
