I was bullied over Leas Cross concerns, says psychologist
Dr Mark Harrold called for the resignation of the St Michael’s House (SMH) board and chief executive the Employment Appeals Tribunal heard yesterday.
He is taking a constructive dismissal case against the north Dublin disability service provider.
Dr Harrold denies eight allegations made by SMH.
Yesterday he said he hadn’t changed his stance from October 2002 when he called on the board and chief executive to resign.
“I was acting out of professional concern for people who were appallingly treated,” Dr Harrold said.
He said he felt vindicated by a report which found SMH had to take a substantial share of the responsibility for the care received by Peter McKenna. The 60-year-old Down syndrome sufferer died from blood poisoning in October 2000, two weeks after being transferred to Leas Cross.
“I feel Peter McKenna’s case was a symptom of bullying. That family were treated appallingly by the organisation,” he said.
Dr Harrold, who left SMH in April 2004, claims he was subjected to bullying and harassment for raising this case and others.
In 2001 he wrote to SMH chief executive Paul Ledwidge: “It is my belief that Peter’s horrific death came about because this organisation has lost its way in what it was supposed to do.”
Dr Harrold wrote to the then Minister for Health, Micheál Martin, in June 2003 about his concerns.
It led to an investigation by Martin Hynes, formerly of the Irish Blood Transfusion Board, which found no grounds for Dr Harrold’s complaints. Following the RTÉ expose of conditions at the nursing home, Mr Hynes was asked to re-visit the issue and came to a radically different conclusion.
Dr Harrold also said his clinical experience was ignored, or his opinion not sought, before certain clients were placed in residential places he felt were “wholly inappropriate.”
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