By a Greater Manchester Mental Health branch UNISON member
The three Manchester Early Intervention in Psychosis Teams (EIS), have recently held a ballot with UNISON and Unite members, voting overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action. This strike action is not over workers’ pay, which is shamefully low, but over protecting the service, service users, carers, the community and the dedicated workers. It is a wake up call for the commissioners and the government that workers have had enough of austerity in these deprived communities, as well as a demand for the funding we need.
This strike will highlight the dire state of mental health services in Manchester. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has inspected the community services in Manchester on multiple occasions recently. They identified serious concerns about safety and the quality of services, issuing several Section 29A notices. These are the CQC’s ‘fix this or else’ warnings, which mean serious problems exist.
These issues are reflected across the country, as 14 years of Tory (and now Labour) austerity have ravaged services for some of the most vulnerable people in society. In Greater Manchester, community mental health services have been underfunded and neglected, creating a service that is understaffed, has low morale and has issues retaining their staff.
The Community Mental Health Teams, as well as the Early Intervention Services, struggle to cope with their workloads and to meet the serious needs of their service users. This underfunding of community services leads to understaffing, burnout and a high turnover of staff.
The EIS strikers can no longer tolerate the negative impact that this lack of adequate staffing is having on the physical and mental well-being of those who use community mental health services in the locality, but also on their own wellbeing.
There was the shocking Panorama programme identifying appalling behaviour within the ‘secure forensic services’ at the Edenfield unit in Prestwich at the end of 2022. The subsequent investigations identified many concerns with the Trust management, not least of which was a culture of complacency, avoidance of dealing with inadequate staffing levels and suppression of voices expressing concern towards senior management. These issues are exacerbated by chronic underfunding of services, low pay of staff and very low morale.
The strike action can be the first steps for frontline mental health workers in Greater Manchester, and indeed across the country, to start the struggle for the funding for our vital services. It is through broadening these campaigns to link up with other mental health workers, service user groups and carers, that a movement can win the resources our communities need.
Currently, the Greater Manchester commissioners are in ‘special measures’ because of the ‘over-spending’ that has taken place over the past few years – or rather due to the lack of adequate resourcing provided to the region by the previous Tory government.
Commissioners say that they have to recoup a £180 million ‘debt’ by imposing yet more austerity on services locally. We cannot rely on these people for the services we need. Begging for more funds never works, but a strong community campaign of staff, service users and carers can force the commissioners to act and the government to fund.
Patient deaths due to physical health difficulties and suicide have greatly increased within Greater Manchester in recent years. The service users in EIS are often young people facing a crisis and are particularly vulnerable.
The strikers have called on Health Minister Wes Streeting to rectify this situation and provide adequate emergency funding, followed by sustained funding that allows Manchester community mental health services to effectively function and assist the most vulnerable within our community.
The EIS strikers will hold their first strike day on Wednesday 16 October outside their base at Chorlton House, 70 Manchester Road, Chorlton, Manchester. M21 9UN.
For updates please check out the strikers’ dedicated Twitter account:
@MancStrikeNHS
or contact them on:
MancStrikeMH@yahoo.co.uk
