
Communities for Holistic Accessible Rights based Mental Health
We are a campaign calling for changes in the way psychiatric services are provided in Greater Manchester.
We’ve teamed up with people with lived experience, trade unions, family groups and citizens
We are calling for a root and branch review and an action plan to transform mental health services in our communities.
Can you help? Contact us here
We have established CHARM, following concerns about the decision to rebuild the Park House Psychiatric Hospital in Crumpsall, North Manchester. We called for a review of the need for a large single site hospital and called for an alternative crisis support service providing place based support throughout the City of Manchester.
We have developed our own set of principles and demands for future service development in Greater Manchester we call the CHARM Demands that holds compassion, human rights and justice as the essential components of any health care system.
See our NEW Mental Health Trust Watch Page
In this section we feature articles about the Mental Health Trusts operating in Greater Manchester. Our intention is to be able to identify issues and concerns that arising across the services. We do this through monitoring media coverage of mental health services in our City Region.
If you have any information that you think we should know about and that we can share here please let us know.
Go here to see latest news on mental health services in Greater Manchester
Latest from the Blog
- The mental health and dementia hospital where staff ‘didn’t know patients’ names’ and ‘told them to sit down whenever they tried to get up’A mental health care hospital has been shut down by watchdogs after investigators uncovered shocking practices. The care unit was slammed for staff ‘not respecting the privacy and dignity’ of patients, as ‘staff often talked over patients, ignored patients, and talked about their personal hygiene needs in the main lounge’, while ‘patients were told toContinue reading “The mental health and dementia hospital where staff ‘didn’t know patients’ names’ and ‘told them to sit down whenever they tried to get up’”
- Relaunch of Manchester Hearing Voices NetworkOn Wednesday 25th May 2022 at The Yard Theatre in Hulme, Manchester, we held a meeting to relaunch the Manchester Hearing Voices Network and to develop support for groups and individuals across the North West. Over 20 people joined us for a reflective and important discussion about rebuilding the hearing voices movement in Manchester. We showed twoContinue reading “Relaunch of Manchester Hearing Voices Network”
- Equalities Discrimination v People with Mental Health Issues who require bus passes in Greater ManchesterManchester Users Network are campaigning for Transport for Greater Manchester to reduce the length time it takes for service users of mental health services to access their bus passes. There are a lot of service users with severe and enduring mental illness in this situation. MUN are demanding that TfGM should make extension or payContinue reading “Equalities Discrimination v People with Mental Health Issues who require bus passes in Greater Manchester”
- The mental health and dementia hospital where staff ‘didn’t know patients’ names’ and ‘told them to sit down whenever they tried to get up’A mental health care hospital has been shut down by watchdogs after investigators uncovered shocking practices. The care unit was slammed for staff ‘not respecting the privacy and dignity’ of patients, as ‘staff often talked over patients, ignored patients, and talked about their personal hygiene needs in the main lounge’, while ‘patients were told toContinue reading “The mental health and dementia hospital where staff ‘didn’t know patients’ names’ and ‘told them to sit down whenever they tried to get up’”
- Relaunch of Manchester Hearing Voices NetworkOn Wednesday 25th May 2022 at The Yard Theatre in Hulme, Manchester, we held a meeting to relaunch the Manchester Hearing Voices Network and to develop support for groups and individuals across the North West. Over 20 people joined us for a reflective and important discussion about rebuilding the hearing voices movement in Manchester. We showed twoContinue reading “Relaunch of Manchester Hearing Voices Network”
- Equalities Discrimination v People with Mental Health Issues who require bus passes in Greater ManchesterManchester Users Network are campaigning for Transport for Greater Manchester to reduce the length time it takes for service users of mental health services to access their bus passes. There are a lot of service users with severe and enduring mental illness in this situation. MUN are demanding that TfGM should make extension or payContinue reading “Equalities Discrimination v People with Mental Health Issues who require bus passes in Greater Manchester”
- Learning from the Trieste Mental Health Experience: Developing Essential Ingredients in Creating Resilient Community Mental Health SystemYou can purchase the recording of the event here A rare opportunity to hear directly from four of the most important managers and clinicians who led the internationally significant deinstitionalization processes in Trieste, Italy, through the closure of a large psychiatric hospital and the development of local Community Mental Health Centres with hospitality. This webinarContinue reading “Learning from the Trieste Mental Health Experience: Developing Essential Ingredients in Creating Resilient Community Mental Health System”
- Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust criticised after seven-year-old Emily Jones killed by patientAfter Emily’s death, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) – who had been treating Skana – conducted an internal review and said it was “difficult to see how this incident could have been prevented”. But NHS England has now disagreed with GMMH’s assessment, saying there was not ‘sufficient analysis’ to justify their conclusion. ItsContinue reading “Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust criticised after seven-year-old Emily Jones killed by patient”
- Inquest for 19 year old who died in the Rivington Unit at at Royal Bolton Hospital in 2021The inquest will ask if there were ‘missed opportunities’ in care of teen who died in mental health unit. Outlining the ‘scope’ of the inquest, Timothy Brennand, senior coroner for Manchester West, said it would consider three main areas: the care and treatment Grace received from Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust from January 2020 toContinue reading “Inquest for 19 year old who died in the Rivington Unit at at Royal Bolton Hospital in 2021”
- The Do it For Dan Pennine Way Walk ’22Jeff Evans is raising £2,000 to Raise awareness of and funds for better public mental health care. Jeff Evans has very kindly offered CHARM half of the money he raises this year during the The Do it For Dan Pennine Way Walk ’22 The aim of this fundraiser is to: 1) promote informed discussion and awareness of theContinue reading “The Do it For Dan Pennine Way Walk ’22”
- Transforming Mental Health Services: Whole Person, Whole Life-Whole System Approach Workshopwith Paul Baker and John Jenkins Book your place on Eventbrite here Over many years in developing community mental health services to replace the institutional system in the UK and a few other countries, the IMHCN recognised that we needed a more fundamental approach to ensure better mental health outcomes for service users and familyContinue reading “Transforming Mental Health Services: Whole Person, Whole Life-Whole System Approach Workshop”
- CHARM Latest NewsCommunities for Holistic Accessible Rights based Mental Health We are a campaign calling for changes in the way psychiatric services are provided in Greater Manchester. We’ve teamed up with people with lived experience, workers, trade unions, family groups and citizens We are calling for a root and branch review and an action plan to transformContinue reading “CHARM Latest News”
- Autistic girl, 14, unlawfully detained in hospital, high court judge findsThe high court in London. Mr Justice MacDonald described the hospital environment into which the girl was placed as ‘brutal and abusive’. In his judgment, MacDonald refused to grant a request from Manchester City Council for the local authority to remain anonymous. He criticised the council for failing to find her a suitable placement throughoutContinue reading “Autistic girl, 14, unlawfully detained in hospital, high court judge finds”
- Mental health team didn’t believe mum-of-one posed a ‘significant risk’ to herself days before train station deathDay two of the inquest in Stockport heard how doctors at the Bronte ward at Wythenshawe Hospital, where Kate was being treated after being sectioned under the Mental Health Act, felt her condition had improved enough for her to be discharged to the home based treatment team. This is despite earlier ‘manic behaviour’ on thisContinue reading “Mental health team didn’t believe mum-of-one posed a ‘significant risk’ to herself days before train station death”
- Schoolgirl, 13, ‘did not intend to end her own life’, coroner rulesFaith Hindle, from Salford, killed herself a day after telling an “overburned” mental health nurse that she feared she was unable to keep herself safe. She was pronounced dead at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital after being found hanged at her family’s home in Cadishead on the evening of December 8, 2018. At an inquest at BoltonContinue reading “Schoolgirl, 13, ‘did not intend to end her own life’, coroner rules”
- ‘Special’ son, 22, died after ‘never getting over’ his counsellor using gravestone reference in therapyA counsellor apologised to a client after using imagery of ‘a gravestone’ in a therapy session, a court heard today. Benjamin Davis then took his own life only a few months later, having ‘never got over that experience’, his father said. During an inquest in Bolton today (April 13), private counsellor Avremi Rosenberg admitted thatContinue reading “‘Special’ son, 22, died after ‘never getting over’ his counsellor using gravestone reference in therapy”
- Anti-psychotic drugs contributed to death of man with mental health history, inquest hearsA man died after a build up of side effects from a drug he was taking to treat his paranoid schizophrenia led to his organs failing, an inquest heard. John Warren had battled mental health problems since his early 20s. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1988, a jury at Manchester coroners court heard.Continue reading “Anti-psychotic drugs contributed to death of man with mental health history, inquest hears”
- Family will have to wait for answers over son’s death at GMMH mental health unitCharlie Millers was one of three young people to die at Prestwich Hospital over a nine-month period. Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH), who run the site, have been ordered to commission an “external report” about all three deaths by NHS England. A pre-inquest review held at Rochdale Coroner’s Court today, March 8,Continue reading “Family will have to wait for answers over son’s death at GMMH mental health unit”
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