Psychologist 'targeted over concern for Leas Cross patient'

A psychologist said today he was targeted maliciously after he raised concerns about the transfer of a patient who later died at the Leas Cross Nursing Home in Dublin.

Dr Mark Harrold, 44, from Castle Terrace, Malahide, Dublin is taking a case against St Michael’s House (SMH) for constructive dismissal at the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

The senior clinical psychologist, who worked at the learning disabilities organisation for 13 years until he left last April, said he had become determined to speak out after he learnt about the transfer and the subsequent death of a 60-year-old disabled patient, Peter McKenna, to the Leas Cross Nursing home.

The tribunal heard that Dr Harrold believed the disciplinary proceedings that followed were a sham and motivated by malice on the behalf of the SMH management.

“I feel the death of Peter McKenna was a symptom of a culture of bullying in SMH. There had been a catalogue of complaints about Leas Cross Nursing Home - and we will have witnesses to testify to that effect – prior to Peter McKenna being sent there,” he said.

After he was contacted by the family of Peter McKenna, he ‘went outside’ SMH and wrote to Health Minister Micháel Martin in June 2003 to outline his concerns.

It led to an investigation by Martin Hynes, the former chief executive of the Irish Blood Transfusion Board, which initially found no grounds for Dr Harrold’s complaints but has since been re-opened.

Dr Harrold told the tribunal that a month after making his complaint, he received a letter from the management of SMH to inform him that they had serious concerns about his professional conduct.

“Basically I felt, ‘Here we go, this is it’. This is a campaign that is going to damage me, to put stress on me, and ultimately that I may not be able to endure,” he said.

The concerns raised included his use of a young disabled patient in his election poster when he ran as an Independent candidate in the Dublin North East constituency in 2002 General Election with the slogan, ‘A voice for the vulnerable’.

Dr Harrold said he had got the permission of the man’s parents and that the young man himself had been so delighted with it that he put the poster in his bedroom.

He said the other ‘manufactured and spurious’ allegations included the case of a 23-year-old man with a mild learning disability who had been placed in a house with five individuals with severely challenging behaviour, such as banging their heads against the wall and walking around naked.

“It was totally inappropriate to put a mildly handicapped man in this setting,” he said.

Dr Harrold said he refused to provide his psychological services because his code of practice mandated this in a situation where a person’s human rights were not being looked after.

He told the tribunal that he had previously complained about the treatment of a staff member with 23 years experience at SMH in 2001 but had been dissatisfied with the grievance procedure proposed by the organisation.

He said the chief executive, Paul Ledwidge, had told him that he would ‘slit the (profanity deleted)’s throat” when he told him of the staff member’s concerns.

“I was quite taken aback by it,” said Dr Harrold.

St Michael’s House provides a range of specialised day and residential services to approximately 1,500 people with learning disability and their families throughout Dublin city.

Junior counsel Tom Mallon, representing the organisation, said it would contend that Dr Harrold had simply left in April last year because he had found another job.

He said that SMH had obtained a High Court order to have Mr McKenna transferred as a ward of court to Leas Cross and added that Dr Harrold was engaging in a campaign which was unconnected to his employment.

“It is an abuse of process to use this tribunal to address matters of public importance,” he said.

The case continues in the afternoon.