Since shocking footage at a mental health unit in Prestwich was screened on a BBC Panorama programme, service users have been coming forward to share their stories of mistreatment.

The TV undercover episode was broadcast on Wednesday September 28, and appeared to show staff taunting, pinching, bullying and humiliating vulnerable patients at the Edenfield Centre.

The campaign Community for Holistic, Accessible, Rights Based Mental Health (CHARM) is calling for changes in the way psychiatric services are provided in Greater Manchester.

It is calling for people to come forward to share their testimonies of how they have been treated with hopes that an independent public inquiry will hear their stories.

World Mental Health Day fell yesterday, Monday, and CHARM is requesting that the World Health Organisation and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to bring an "end to institutionalisation".

It also wants to shine a light on the cruel and degrading abuse patients are enduring at the hands of "poorly trained and inadequately supervised mental health professionals in a system that is failing both patients and staff".

Consultant clinical psychologist Dr Lucy Johnstone said: “Tragically, this is not just about a particular hospital.

“It is about a failed paradigm of care, in which people are routinely re-traumatised by mental health services. We must not just do better but do differently.”

Clinical psychologist, Dr Sanah Ahsan, added: “Violence is happening under the guise of care across all mental health services.

"People’s understandable distress is being medicalised and met with punishment.

“We need a radical transformation in our approach. One which centres on freedom and dignity, for those in distress.”

Those who have experienced abuse or adverse experiences in mental health services are invited to come forward and share their experiences, which will be heard at a public meeting on Wednesday, November 23 in Manchester at 7pm.