Muckamore Abbey abuse victims 'denied chance to lead best lives'

The public inquiry into the abuse of vulnerable patients at a hospital has been told hundreds of patients and their families were harmed.

The abuse at Muckamore Abbey Hospital in County Antrim has been described as the worst adult safeguarding scandal since the formation of the NHS.

On Monday, Monye Anyadike-Danes QC, who represents two support groups said the abuse was "a betrayal" of patients.

They "were deprived the chance to live their best lives", she added.

Speaking about the victims represented by Action for Muckamore and the Society of Parents and Friends of Muckamore, she said: "Without exception, all of them suffered abuse, whether sexual, physical, emotional or financial."

'Toxic culture'

Ms Anyadike-Danes said some of this was captured on CCTV and that abuse had been happening at Muckamore since 1950.

She also described in graphic detail the abuse of one patient: "He had been kicked on the groin, punched on the shoulder, trailed across the ground with his genitals exposed."

She said the relatives, who acknowledged the challenging behaviour of some of the patients, "found the extent to which this was met with rough handling, ridicule and humiliation, unjustifiable and extremely distressing".

The hospital provides services to vulnerable patients with special needs.

Many of the patients who were abused were non-verbal but Ms Anyadike-Danes stressed this did not prevent many of them from articulating their "pain, distress, sadness and fear" to relatives.

Families arriving for the start of the public hearings on 6 June

The barrister also explained while the relatives want those who abused the patients to be brought to justice, this was not enough.

Ms Anyadike-Danes said: "Those who abused were subject to management, and it is this management that created and or failed to prevent the development of this toxic culture of impunity.

"In this sense, at least, management were complicit in the abuse that occurred.

"Those in charge, those who might have intervened to stop this disgrace, in my clients' view, must be held accountable."

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To date, police have arrested 34 people and four other people have been interviewed voluntarily under caution.

The PSNI says it is now "the largest criminal safeguarding investigation of its kind in the UK".

Thirty-eight people have been reported to the Public Prosecution Service.

Separately, the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust has confirmed that 83 members of staff have been suspended and a further 68 have been placed on a form of supervision and training.

Joseph Aiken QC, acting on behalf of the trust, has previously told the inquiry that "on any level, those are remarkable and disturbing statistics".

The action by the trust followed the viewing of CCTV from the hospital, relating to a period of months in 2017.

However, the Belfast Trust has indicated that it does not seek to suggest that 2017 was the only time during the history of Muckamore Abbey Hospital when staff abused vulnerable patients in their care.

The trust has also issued "an unreserved and unequivocal apology" to all those patients who suffered abuse at the hospital and to their families.

The inquiry is now into its second week.