Muckamore Abbey Hospital: Abuse 'might have gone unnoticed' without CCTV

Muckamore treats adults with severe learning disabilities and mental health needs

The alleged abuse of hospital patients might have gone unnoticed if a patient's father had not pursued CCTV, the chief of Belfast Health Trust said.

Dr Cathy Jack said the discovery of footage at Muckamore Abbey Hospital was a "turning point" in the investigation.

The patient's father, Glynn Brown, who challenged the trust for access to the footage, was also praised by the health minister for "exposing the truth".

Last year, police said CCTV revealed 1,500 crimes on one ward alone.

The County Antrim hospital has been the subject of a major police investigation into allegations that staff physically and mentally abused several patients.

Seven people have been arrested since October 2019 and there have been 59 precautionary suspensions of staff, but no-one has been charged.

On Wednesday, the Department of Health published a damning review into the leadership and governance of Muckamore Abbey Hospital, focusing on the period between 2012 and 2017.

Public apology

Health Minister Robin Swann said there had been a "sustained failure of care" at the hospital and he apologised on behalf of the health service to patients and families who had "been let down".

"I also want to apologise publicly to Mr Glynn Brown and pay tribute to his perseverance and devotion to his son," the minister added.

"Mr Brown's determination was central in exposing the truth about Muckamore. It shouldn't have been left to him to do this but we should all be very grateful that he did."

Glynn Brown was initially told CCTV was not in use when he requested footage in 2017

Mr Brown asked the hospital about its CCTV records after he was informed of an allegation that his son had been assaulted in Muckmore in August 2017.

He was told that the cameras were not yet operational at the time of the alleged assault, but the review team has concluded that the CCTV system "was operational and recording from July 2015".

The police have subsequently reviewed thousands of hours of footage as part of their wider abuse investigation.

The latest report said that had the patient's father "not queried CCTV recording and persisted with his enquiries it is likely that the scale of historical CCTV would not have been discovered".

It added that it took an "inexplicably long time" to produce a policy to implement the CCTV after its installation at Muckamore.

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Dr Cathy Jack told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme that she accepted the findings of the report and expressed "deep shame and regret" over failures at Muckamore.

"The sea change happened in September 2017 when the senior team became aware of the CCTV," Dr Jack said.

"I am very clear that CCTV actually was a turning point because it gave a voice to those patients and tells a story that they couldn't tell."

The chief executive added: "I want to pay tribute to Mr Brown for his persistence, his determination and his focus on protecting his son because he raised this and he challenged us about the CCTV.

"And without that, we may not have looked back and this could have gone unnoticed."

Allegations of ill treatment began to surface at Muckamore Abbey Hospital in 2017

Dr Jack took up her role as chief executive of the trust in January 2020, but she had been deputy chief executive since August 2017 and prior to that she had been the trust's medical director since 2014.

She accepted that it was a "devastating indictment" that it took CCTV footage for the situation to come to light.

Dr Jack vowed to "work tirelessly to ensure that Muckamore is a safe place for our patients and to rebuild the trust that we have lost".

'Vindication of my position'

Regarding the 22-month delay in implementing CCTV following its installation, Dr Jack said the recordings had raised privacy issues.

She explained the trust had to seek legal advice and undertake "significant consultations" with patients, relatives and staff "to make sure human rights weren't infringed".

The health minister confirmed that it is his "intention to establish an inquiry on Muckamore" following the independent review into its governance.

Patients' families have insisted that they want a full public inquiry.

Following the publication of Wednesday's report, Mr Brown said: "I feel it's a vindication of my position but it's been a long and a hard road."

However, he questioned why it had taken "three years to initiate an investigation to find out what went so badly wrong at Muckamore, bearing in mind this was the regional facility".

"This was sold to me as the jewel in the crown - the most highly staffed, highly trained unit," Mr Brown said.

"And as I've subsequently said, if that's the best unit, I wouldn't like to be a patient at one of their worst."