Muckamore patient subjected to 'Victorian model of care'

A patient at Muckamore Abbey Hospital was subjected to a Victorian model of care, an inquiry has been told.

Martin, who is now in his late 30s, was first brought into the hospital for assessment when he was six years old and became an inpatient at 16.

The hospital is at the centre of a public inquiry into alleged abuse of patients.

Martin's sister was the first relative of a patient to give evidence on Tuesday.

Antoinette, whose surname was not made public, described how Martin, who has complex needs, was pushed in a shower by a staff member and hit his head on a wall.

She also said he was "regularly" pinned down, on one occasion by three men when he himself was "slightly built".

She said a staff member once poured a bottle of water over him and others "started laughing and making fun of him ".

On another occasion she said their family was alerted by the hospital about "a near miss" after a staff member gave Martin "too much medication".

Antoinette also described how his weight fell from seven and a half stone (48kg) to five stone (32kg) when he was 16.

When his parents raised concerns about his feeding and eating routine, she said a staff member responded: "I don't know what you're talking about. I think he looks well."

She told the inquiry her brother was subsequently "at risk of organ failure".

The witness also outlined how her brother suffered a large gash on his head which required four stitches.

She added that "nothing ever came of it".

The witness explained that Martin's parents had been alerted by some staff about some incidents involving their son.

Antoinette said it was "chilling" that people at the hospital knew about abuse there and it still happened.

She said her brother became very withdrawn, had to take anti-depressants and never smiled until he was eventually moved out of Muckamore Abbey Hospital.

Antoinette said there had been a breakdown of any "civilised behaviour" at the hospital.

Describing the abuse of Martin as a torment, she said it has had a devastating impact on their family.

The inquiry has previously been told that hundreds of vulnerable patients and their families were harmed since 1950.

The abuse has been described as the worst adult safeguarding scandal since the formation of the NHS.

Many of the patients who were abused were non-verbal but some of them still managed to articulate their "pain, distress, sadness and fear" to relatives.

Relatives want those responsible for the abuse to be brought to justice as well as management to be held to account for allowing a "toxic culture of impunity".

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

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it was 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.

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.