Muckamore: Patient had 'dysentery and scabies,' inquiry hears

Muckamore Abbey Hospital is at the centre of the UK's biggest ever police investigation into the abuse of vulnerable adults

The mother of a 42-year-old man has told the public inquiry into abuse at Muckamore Abbey Hospital that it was "a horrible place."

The woman, referred to only as Patricia, gave evidence about her son, identified only as Ciaran.

Over the years he was at Muckamore she said Ciaran contracted dysentery and scabies, spent time in seclusion and came home with bruising on his penis.

Ciaran was first admitted to Muckamore in 1992, aged 12.

His family was initially told he was being admitted as a "voluntary" patient, for a six-week assessment, because of his mental-health issues.

The inquiry heard that at the end of the assessment period his family was informed he was being detained under the Mental Health Act.

'Banging on the door'

Patricia said she travelled to Muckamore Abbey Hospital at the time to try to bring her son home, but was told that she could not because of his behavioural and mental-health issues.

"Ciaran knew I was outside Muckamore Abbey Hospital and he was there banging on the door shouting to get out."

"We thought after six weeks he would be assessed and we'd get him home again. There was no way we were getting him home."

Patricia said her son, who was eventually diagnosed with a severe learning disability and mental-health issues, was initially placed on an adult ward where he slept in a dormitory.

The inquiry heard how when Ciaran was first admitted, he wrote a note saying he hated the hospital and that he wanted to escape from it.

'Touched inappropriately'

After eventually being moved to a children's ward, at the age of 17 Ciaran was moved to a "voluntary" adult ward.

Patricia said on a visit home one weekend her son told her that he had been "touched inappropriately".

She said while she initially did not "take it on board, as he could make things up" it emerged that he had also reported the incident to staff at the hospital.

The inquiry heard how weeks later it "came to light" that an older patient had been touching Ciaran.

When his family was informed about this they took the decision to move him out of the hospital and bring him home.

Bruising on his penis

The inquiry also heard when Ciaran was readmitted to the hospital three years later, because of a deterioration in his condition, he was placed on an adult ward.

Patricia said on a weekend visit home they noticed bruising on his penis, while they were giving him a shower.

She said Ciaran was examined by the family GP who she said was "totally shocked".

His mother said a doctor at the hospital told her they did not know how the bruising had occurred and that it must have happened after a body check had taken place and before Ciaran had left for the weekend.

Dysentery and scabies

Patricia said staff agreed that her son would have one to one supervision following the incident.

She told the inquiry her son went on to contract dysentery and scabies while at the hospital and also spent periods in seclusion.

In her statement to the inquiry she said: "When times were bad and I went to Muckamore Abbey Hospital to drop him off, I used to think if I keep driving over the ditch that will be the end for both of us, it was so devastating."

Ciaran was later moved to a resettlement ward in April 2008 but when his family went to visit him after returning from a holiday abroad they said he had lost "about a stone" in weight.

Ciaran was eventually moved to the intensive care unit at the hospital where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and placed on the anti-psychotic medication Clozapine.

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Patricia said it was a "miracle drug" which settled Ciaran's mental health changing both his life and his family's life.

She said her son had exhausted every other anti-psychotic drug before he went on it.

'It was like a jail'

In 2010, staff at the hospital said Ciaran was well enough to move to another ward but his family took the decision to move him home.

Patricia said doctors were initially resistant to the move as they worried about how Ciaran's family would cope.

"We thought he'd been through enough rather than try to be resettled in another ward."

Recalling what it was like when her son was a patient at the hospital, Patricia said: "It was hell for us."

She added: "Having to drive Ciaran up there and leaving him in that place, bars on the window, it was like a jail."

The Muckamore Abbey Hospital inquiry will resume hearings again in November.