By Tony O’Riley-
The Head of Belfast Health Trust has apologised for leadership failures at Muckamore hospital.
The apology follows a raft of allegations of physical abuse and mental cruelty to patients at the Co Antrim facility of Mockamore hospital.
The hospital which provides facilities for adults with severe learning disabilities and mental health needs, badly failed its patients, and could face legal suits by some of its victims who are seeking legal advice.
Belfast police are already conducting a major investigation into the allegations, which includes the examination of 300,000 hours of CCTV footage. Police have made seven arrests, but no one has been charged for the offences.
Independent Review
An independent review into the running of the hospital by the trust found that appropriate governance structures were not implemented effectively, and senior staff did not use their discretion in escalating matters when it was necessary to do so.
Trust chief executive Dr Cathy Jack public apology to patients and their families for the serious failings of this trust.
She said: “It is clear there were serious failings in leadership and ineffective escalation of serious matters at Muckamore, despite appropriate governance structures,” she said.
“This contributed to an environment which enabled the serious maltreatment of vulnerable people to go unnoticed for so long.
“This is a matter of profound regret and for that I am deeply sorry.”
Apologies
”I also fully accept that they want much more than apologies. They need and deserve answers as to why this happened and to be confident that this scandal will not be repeated.
The trust said in its review that following “significant improvements”, it is “confident that Muckamore Abbey Hospital is much safer today”.
Health Minister Robin Swann promised to establish an inquiry into the “appalling failings” at Muckamore as he paid tribute to Glynn Brown, the father of a patient, for his “determination in exposing the truth”..
The report also concludes that the annual Discharge of Statutory Functions reports by the trust failed to give adequate reassurance, and were not sufficiently challenged at trust, health and social care board, or departmental levels.
The shameful findings of the report has damaged the reputation of the trust team confirmed the conclusions of the previous SAI Report that Muckamore was viewed as “a place apart” ,which operated outside the sightlines and under the radar of the trust.