On 22 November 2022, NHS England North West wrote to Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS FT (GMMH), to inform the trust it would be commissioning an Independent Review into the failings within the Trust’s services, reported at the Edenfield Centre, and the failure within the organisation to appropriately manage concerns and mitigate against patient harm. This followed concerns raised by patients, their families, and staff, some of which were presented through the media.

The review was commissioned with the aim of understand what had gone wrong in the organisation and to make recommendations to prevent reoccurrence, and to bring clarity and reassurance to patients, their families, and staff, as well as the broader public, in respect of the ongoing safety of services that the Trust delivers.

NHS England asked Professor Oliver Shanley OBE to lead the Independent Review, as the Independent Chair. Professor Shanley OBE is a senior leader with over 30 years’ experience of working in several mental health settings. He originally qualified as a mental health nurse, working in a variety of clinical settings including forensic mental health services. Throughout his career Professor Shanley has focussed on improving the quality of services. He is committed to ensuring that people with a lived experience are central to decision making in mental health services. He has worked in executive leadership roles since 2003 including the Chief Nurse for London and a Chief Executive of a mental health provider. He attained a Doctorate at Kings College London in 2012 and was appointed Visiting Professor to the University of Hertfordshire in 2014. In the 2016 New Year’s Honours list Professor Shanley was awarded an OBE for services to mental health and learning disability nursing.

The Terms of Reference for the Independent Review were developed in full by Professor Shanley, and included collaboration with a significant number of patients, service users, families and staff as well as NHS England North West’s Regional Team.

The patient failings at The Edenfield Centre in Prestwich, were reported extensively by BBC Panorama following an undercover investigation and were the main focus of the Independent Review. In addition, the review also looked at the trust’s other medium and low secure services and included reviews of ward to board escalation and oversight of patient safety and staff culture.

The Independent Review commenced in February 2023 and published in January 2024.

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NHS England and the Trust have arranged support for patients, families, and staff via the Greater Manchester Resilience Hub: www.penninecare.nhs.uk/gmrh