Care abuse allegations not followed up quickly

COMPLAINTS alleging shocking abuses of vulnerable people at a hospital owned by four of Ireland’s richest businessmen were not followed up until a fortnight before a major BBC investigation into the scandal.

A Panorama undercover exposé has confirmed that complaints lodged by a whistle-blower at the Castlebeck Group in Britain last October were not addressed in any way until the middle of May.

The group, which runs 56 residential care homes for vulnerable people across Britain, is owned by Irish businessmen JP McManus, John Magnier, Dermot Desmond and Denis Brosnan.