Muckamore: Hospital 'should close', review author warns

The author of a review into Muckamore Abbey Hospital, which found a series of "catastrophic failings", has said the hospital "needs to close".

In her first interview since the review last December, Dr Margaret Flynn said she is disappointed it is still open.

A further five members of staff have been suspended at the hospital in Antrim, bringing the total to 33.

It follows police investigations into allegations of physical and mental abuse of patients.

These latest precautionary suspensions came after additional police viewings of historical CCTV footage.

The Belfast Health Trust has offered its "sincere apologies" to patients and families affected.

Those suspended are 17 registered nurses and 16 care assistants.

In a statement to the BBC, the Belfast Health Trust said that staff behaviour "fell significantly below professional standards".

The trust said it accepted that it is a distressing time for everyone involved.

The Department of Health told the BBC it is looking at a planned closure, but presently its focus is to ensure the model of care is safe and reliable.

There is an ongoing police investigation into the physical and mental abuse of patients. Police are viewing hundreds of thousands of hours of CCTV footage.

Dr Flynn was one of the authors into a review of adult safeguarding at Muckamore between 2012 and 2017.

The report was damning. It found that patients' lives were compromised, safeguarding protocols were not followed and CCTV footage showed patients being harmed by staff.

Dr Flynn has returned to Muckamore on several occasions and she said some aspects of care have improved, but that the hospital needs to close.

"It should not have survived the headwinds of closure programmes that happened elsewhere in the UK, but it did survive and we live with the consequences of that," she added.

"I can guarantee that if you visited maternity wards and nurseries in Northern Ireland and you met with the parents of little ones with learning disabilities and autism and asked them what their aspirations were for their youngsters, they would not cite Muckamore."

Dr Flynn said that the knowledge that some staff at Muckamore could secure employment at a hospital "in the knowledge that they are not that interested" was "heart-stopping".

She said that patients had been "let down" and that while it was tempting to finger-point, the "bigger system" needed attention.

Dr Flynn said while reviewing files she had found evidence of "staff withdrawing activities, slapping patients and placing patients unnecessarily in seclusion".

Speaking to the BBC at Muckamore, Northern Ireland's Chief Social Worker Sean Holland acknowledged that trust had broken down.

"I think anyone who works in this work, it's hard and challenging but the reasonable expectation from the families is that people will do that work well with dedication and to certain standards," he added.

"Clearly those standards haven't been met.

"I understand why people feel a sense of betrayal.

"What we are trying to do now is make sure it is not a mess."

Mr Holland said he and health colleagues throughout the system felt "profound regret" about what had happened at the hospital.

Asked about the future, Dr Flynn said she could not rule out such a scandal happening again.

A number of the families of relatives at Muckamore have pressed for a public inquiry into what happened at the hospital.

However, Dr Flynn said she was not convinced that a public inquiry was the way forward.

"Between commissioning a public inquiry and its reporting can be many years and in that interim period repeat problems can occur and similar challenges can arise again."

A unnamed professional who has been viewing CCTV footage as part of the police investigation said that it is often difficult to watch.

"As there is no audio or sound we have to look carefully at every frame and capture what we see happening before us.

"This can be seeing staff on their phones, sometimes shouting at patients, I have seen slapping and shoving."

They added: "But you also see a different side; how challenging it can be for staff and those who are completely dedicated to looking after those in their care."

There are about 250 nursing staff at the hospital and a total of 350 professionals including nursing, care assistants, therapists and psychiatrists.

The latest suspensions mean the trust is relying on agency and bank staff which is proving to be extremely costly.