Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust - HQ

Updated 21 June 2024

HMP Styal is operated by HM Prison Service. It is a women’s prison in Cheshire for up to 450 women.

NHS England has commissioned Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) NHS Foundation Trust to provide primary, secondary and specialist perinatal mental health services.

GMMH is registered with CQC to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures, and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

Updated 21 June 2024

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of mental health services provided by Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) NHS Foundation Trust at HMP Styal. We visited the services between 30 April and 2 May 2024, and continued to inspect remotely until 10 May 2024.

The purpose of this comprehensive inspection was to determine if the mental health services provided by GMMH were meeting the legal requirements and regulations under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and that patients were receiving safe care and treatment.

We do not currently rate services provided in prisons. We highlight good practice and issues that service providers need to improve and take regulatory action as necessary.

At this inspection, we found:

• A well-resourced, fully integrated mental health team worked effectively to provide appropriate care to patients with complex needs and high levels of risk.
• The provider had a wide range of skilled and dedicated staff who were suitably qualified and experienced for their roles.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect. Staff completed timely assessments of patients’ needs and risks and planned appropriate care and treatment.
• Examples of good practice included the wide range of psychological therapies available to patients, an established neurodevelopmental pathway, and the risk management of patients with acute mental illness.

However, we also found:

• Medicines were provided and administered by another service and provider. The team experienced challenges in ensuring their patients received their prescribed medicines and associated health checks on time.
• The service faced challenges in providing appropriate care and treatment to some acutely unwell patients who had been transferred to prison as a ‘safe place’, and/or who were awaiting transfer to hospital.
• At the time of our inspection, there was no mental health training offered to prison staff but there were plans to re-introduce it.