Special needs adults ‘not fed for 15 hours’ at HSE facility

Ireland’s health watchdog uncovered serious issues about how residents were treated at a HSE-run facility for adults with intellectual disabilities after being informed by whistleblowers of a death at the unit.

The concerns were highlighted at the Áras Attracta institution in Swinford, Co Mayo, by a Health Information Quality Authority (Hiqa) inspection team earlier this year.

Documents published yesterday, show the facility — which caters for 99 adults with intellectual disabilities — was regularly failing to feed them for up to 15 hours.