Public inquiry into alleged abuse of patients by staff at Muckamore hospital

Muckamore Abbey Hospital in Northern Ireland (Liam McBurney/PA)

A public inquiry will be held into alleged abuse of patients by staff at Muckamore Abbey Hospital, Northern Ireland’s health minister has said.

A raft of allegations of physical abuse and mental cruelty to patients at the Co Antrim facility, which began to emerge in 2017, are being investigated by police.

Health Minister Robin Swann told the Northern Ireland Assembly that the public inquiry will be held under the Inquiries Act 2005.

The inquiry follows two reports into the alleged abuse at Muckamore – the serious adverse incident report and the recently published review into the leadership and governance of Muckamore Abbey Hospital by Belfast Trust.

The independent review into the running of the hospital by the trust found that while appropriate governance structures were in place, these systems were not implemented effectively and senior staff did not use their discretion to escalate matters.

Following an Assembly debate about Muckamore Abbey Hospital, Mr Swann said he also wanted to apologise to the families that they first learned of the inquiry through his statement in the chamber.

He added: “I want to take this opportunity to once again put on record my apologies on behalf of the health and social care system to patients and families who have been let down by failure to protect patients from abuse.

“A shocking failure which has affected some of the most vulnerable members of our society who should be protected.

“But families and patients want and deserve more than apologies. They want and need answers as to why this happened and how.

“I hope that the public inquiry will give them those answers.

“I cannot find words to adequately describe the scale of this betrayal of trust, this scandal.”

Mr Swann said families and patients, both current and former, will have the opportunity to influence the terms of reference for the inquiry.

He added: “This is a sad chapter in the history of health and social care services in Northern Ireland and, in particular, both the Belfast Trust and Muckamore Abbey Hospital.

“They have failed in their duty to protect these patients, they have failed in their duty to the family members.

“This abuse should never have happened and I will do all that I can to make sure it never happens again.

“Let’s be very clear, the immediate priority for Muckamore remains the safety and stability of care provided there.

“There will continue to be a focus on resettlement but not at the expense of those who require to be in hospital.

“Looking to the long term, there is a clear need to transform services for adults with learning disabilities in Northern Ireland and work is being taken forward through the transformation agenda to develop a new service model for learning disability services.”

The inquiry was welcomed by Sinn Fein’s Orlaithi Flynn, who said that families are trying to get to the truth of what happened to their loved ones.

“It’s right that a shining light is cast into the quality of care and governance, not only within Muckamore Abbey Hospital, but within the wider health and social care system,” she said.

“Hopefully this will make sure that nothing like this will happen again.”

Alliance MLA John Blair said that recent reviews exposed “spiralling costs” of the Muckamore scandal.

“Millions of pounds has been spent on keeping the hospital operational,” he added.

“A reported cost to the health service of £12 million incorporating issues around suspended staff, paying agency nurses, sick leave and a list that is much longer than that.

“These costs arising to £12 million out of the abuse scandal is to the detriment of other public services.”

A major police investigation is ongoing into the allegations, which includes the examination of 300,000 hours of CCTV footage.

Mr Swann said that 62 members of staff have been suspended from the hospital.

The minister said he anticipated further arrests and suspensions will be made.