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Here's the Mancunian Way for today:
Hello,
Yesterday was another difficult day for the families of those murdered in the Manchester Arena bombing. As Figen Murray put it, reading Sir John Saunders’ conclusions on the emergency services response that night was ‘re-traumatising’.
That vast report must now be scrutinised beyond those first shocking headline findings that carer John Atkinson could have survived if he had received better treatment, and the 'remote possibility' the youngest victim, Saffie-Rose Roussos, could have survived.
Crime reporter John Scheerhout, who covered much of the inquiry for the Manchester Evening News along with Paul Britton, has been reading through the 328-page report.
He says the emergency services were braced for stinging criticism, but the scale had not been anticipated.
“All journalists who read the report knew there were going to be criticisms, but it was the sheer volume of them that was shocking,” he tells The Mancunian Way.
“There was not much that actually went right so far as those in charge of the emergency services are concerned.
“Perhaps the most worrying thing is that a lot of the mistakes that happened were foreshadowed in a previous training exercise.”
John says apologies offered up by the emergency services yesterday may have come too late.
“We have watched the families become increasingly angry during the course of the inquiry and that anger reached a peak yesterday,” he says.
“Only the fire service apologised properly at the beginning of the inquiry. Police and ambulance service apologies were always qualified. The full apologies heard yesterday came because of the weight of the evidence.
“People can be forgiven for being cynical about whether lessons have been learned and we as journalists have got to remember what they have said and ensure they are as good as their word next year, the year after and so on.”
Read more: Anger of parents of Arena attack's youngest victim
They deserved better, Greater Manchester deserves better
Looking for answers
The inquest into the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak began this morning.
Ahead of the hearing at Rochdale Coroners' Court, his parents released this beautiful photograph of the little boy on his second birthday - just over a week before his death.
The toddler died after his family was forced to live in a damp, mouldy flat at the Ilminster block on the Freehold estate - owned and managed by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing.
An earlier coronial hearing was told the family complained about mould in their home even before Awaab was born and asked to be found a new home.
The child suffered breathing difficulties prior to his death and was admitted to Royal Oldham Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on December 21, 2020. A post-mortem established a medical link between damp and mould and his death.
An investigation by reporter Stephen Topping found that other families on the estate had also been suffering with severe damp and mould issues.
Awaab’s family say they are keen for answers on how his death could have happened.
"We want to ensure that any lessons to be learned are acted upon and that no other family has to go through this,” his father, Faisal Abdullah said.
Disciplinary action
A dozen staff at an NHS mental health unit at the heart of a police investigation have been sacked, the M.E.N understands.
Neal Keeling reports that 30 staff at the Edenfield Centre, in the grounds of the former Prestwich Hospital, are the subject of disciplinary action following claims made in a BBC Panorama programme. It’s thought 12 have been sacked and another 18 are to face hearings.
There have been demands for a public inquiry into the unit after Panorama embedded a journalist who alleged that patients were abused. Scenes of apparent humiliation, verbal abuse, mocking and assault of patients were captured in hidden camera footage.
There are fears that similar alleged abuse is happening at other Greater Manchester mental health treatment units, a Manchester Council committee hearing has heard.
An independent clinical review into the Edenfield Centre, commissioned by Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust, has made 31 recommendations.
Greater Manchester Police is continuing an investigation into the alleged abuse.
Earlier this week, jurors ruled that a breakdown in communication stopped vital blood test results reaching a Prestwich mental health unit and contributed to a teenager's death.
Rowan Thompson, who was an inpatient on the Gardener Unit, died aged 18 on October 3, 2020.
In a six-day inquest held at Rochdale Coroners Court, jurors heard that Rowan had 'severely low' levels of potassium before their death, but old out-of-service phone numbers and email issues meant blood test results were not communicated from Salford Royal Hospital to Prestwich in time to save their life.
Rowan, who identified as non-binary and used the pronoun 'they', died following a seizure the next day.
The jury concluded that the lack of timely communication on Rowan's blood test results contributed to their death and amounted to 'neglect' - meaning 'a gross failure to provide basic medical care' as a result of the failure.
Blasting through the Pennines
There wasn’t really ‘much point’ in ‘blasting new tunnels through the Pennines’ for Northern Powerhouse Rail, Grant Shapps has said.
The Business Secretary has been defending a decision, yet to be confirmed, to scale back plans for a new high-speed line from Manchester to Leeds.
Plans were initially watered down by Boris Johnson last year, but Liz Truss, vowed to reverse that decision and pledged to build it in full, including a planned new stop at Bradford and a link with HS2.
Former Transport Secretary Mr Shapps today told the BBC journeys between Manchester and Leeds have already been reduced to 33 minutes, as promised in the Conservative party's 2019 manifesto.
"There wasn't really much point in going and blasting new tunnels through the Pennines… it's not true to say we're not delivering on what we said we would do on levelling up the north," he said.
Manchester Council leader, Bev Craig, has questioned that logic.
“‘Not much point?’ in investing in infrastructure to improve connections, increase capacity and help unlock the economic potential of the North?
"As for there being no point in digging tunnels, best not tell him about London….” she tweeted.
Weather etc
- Saturday: Heavy rain changing to partly cloudy by early evening. 12C.
- Road closures: A665 Devonshire Street Northbound closed due to gas main work from A6 Stockport Road to Hellidon Close until November 4.
- Trains: Special timetable operating on TransPennine Express and Avanti West Coast due to shortage of train crews.
- Trams: Revised service on Manchester Metrolink due to overrunning engineering works at Piccadilly Gardens. Some Metrolink services are operating with changes until the end of November when the works can be finished. Bury and Altrincham services are not operating into Piccadilly station. Ashton services are operating to Crumpsall via Victoria. Eccles services are only operating to Deansgate.
- Trivia question: Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, an area of which U.S. state?
Manchester headlines
Protest: Campaigners protesting a controversial migrant processing camp have gathered in Manchester. Mitie, a major services firm with an office in Wythenshawe, is one of a number of companies that support the government-run Manston migrant processing centre. The centre, in Kent, has made headlines this week after revelations that 4,000 people were being detained for weeks in a site intended to hold 1,600 for a matter of days. Protesters gathered outside Mitie's Manchester facility with banners and flags have refused to move. More here.
Refugees: Relationship breakdown between Ukrainian refugees and their host families could leave some refugees homeless, Salford's health and social care scrutiny panel has heard. Salford City Council has been allocated £10,500 for each approved arrival from Ukraine with hosts provided with a monthly 'thank you' of £350. So far there have been 116 applications to be a host and 105 adults have arrived as well as 22 children. Three families have left the Salford scheme and more than four have suffered a 'relationship breakdown', the council heard. Deputy mayor Coun John Merry said there was concern that 'people who offered homes to Ukrainian refugees didn't necessarily expect it to be a long, drawn-out thing'. More here.
Leaving: Jane Hobson and Nigel Humphreys, licensees of the Railway Hotel in Nantwich, plan to leave the business after 30 years due to an incoming rent increase and rising energy prices. In an emotional post on Facebook, they said they had 'sad times and hard times, but mostly fun times' over the years, but had 'reached that point where it's just too difficult' to continue running the venue. They say they haven't paid themselves since the pandemic because there was no money in the pot. More here.
The great Bounty row
What have the people of Wythenshawe got against desiccated coconut?
I don’t know if Mars ran some kind of survey, but the confectionary company has chosen the suburb to test out its new Bounty-free tubs of Celebrations.
The Tesco Extra, in Baguley, will be the first place customers can buy containers without Bounty bars.
Those of you with extremely poor taste can return your Bounty-filled boxes for Bounty-free boxes at selected sites until December 18.
Sparklers at the ready
It’s Bonfire Night tomorrow and you can look for all the events in your area here.
Whatever you’re up to over the weekend, enjoy it.
Worth a read
As the cost of living crisis continues, volunteers in Greater Manchester are bringing support, hope, and friendship to thousands of people.
Volunteers like the team at Trinity Foodbank, which includes Jenny Platt, know what it's like to hit the bottom, to pick yourself up and rebuild your life. Through helping others, she's found a new purpose in a place without judgement.
Reporter Paige Oldfield met the people visiting Trinity for this feature.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: New Hampshire.
