Muckamore Abbey abuse inquiry ‘must go right to the top’, says father of patient

The public inquiry, ordered by Health Minister Robin Swann following a years-long campaign by families, will now be set up a week from Monday, on October 11.

The specialist facility in Co Antrim, for adults with serious mental health and intellectual disabilites, has been for more than four years at the centre of allegations that patients had been abused by staff.

A major criminal investigation has been ongoing since 2017, which has involved police combing through thousands of hours of CCTV footage from inside the facility.

Over 70 individual staff members have been suspended by the Belfast Trust, and several people are due to face prosecution.

In June this year, it was announced a public inquiry would be led by a QC named Tom Kark, who had played a key role in an inquiry into the avoidable deaths scandal at Stafford Hospital in England.

Glynn Brown, whose adult son Aaron was a patient at Muckamore when allegations first began to emerge, leads the Action For Muckamore campaign group.

The Dundonald man, the first relative to bring his concerns to authorities back in 2017, said he is confident the ongoing PSNI investigation can focus on what he termed “offenders at a low level”.

But he insisted the inquiry must also focus on the leadership of the organisations involved.

“I am adamant this inquiry has to have no boundaries,” he said.

“I believe this is the biggest health scandal in the history of the NHS. If you talk to police they will tell you that.”

He was speaking to the News Letter after the terms of inquiry were announced in a statement to the Stormont Assembly by Mr Swann earlier this week.

“We are confident that the police will deal with offenders at a low level – the alleged abusers,” Mr Brown said.

“But what we have consistently said is that the public inquiry must investigate managers, consultants, doctors, the RQIA, chief executives, board members, even politicians – right to the very top.

“This inquiry must root out the failures by everybody, right up to the top.”

He added: “Once the details of what happened at Muckamore start hitting the papers, through prosecutions and through the inquiry, the public will be asking what on earth happened here and how it was allowed to happen.”

Meanwhile, the chair of the inquiry has admitted there could be a long wait for a conclusion.

Tom Kark QC, in a statement, said: “There is no doubt that due to the size and scale of this inquiry that it is expected to take some time. Further activity is required prior to the commencement of the public hearings and I would like to assure people that every effort is being undertaken to move forward swiftly.”

He added: “It is imperative that we engage with as many people as possible, and I would encourage those affected by the issues at Muckamore Abbey Hospital, to come forward early.”