BBC Northern Ireland has reported this afternoon that the new Chief Executive of The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Jennifer Welsh, has said, whilst giving evidence to Stormont’s Health Committee, that the Muckamore scandal had been “a dark chapter” in the history of healthcare for vulnerable patients.
Ms Welsh was also noted to have commented that the impact of the Muckamore Abbey Inquiry Report was “illuminating a rot that permeated deep into a culture and a way of life at Muckamore that was systemic.” She also reiterated her “profound and unreserved apology to the people who lived at Muckamore Abbey Hospital and who experienced abuse, neglect and at times cruelty.”
Ms Welsh also accepted that the Belfast Trust had been adversarial in their approach to the Inquiry and concluded that she thought “it is shameful that Northern Ireland has had so many public inquiries across health and social services.”
We continue to represent a number of the Core Participants to the Inquiry and again welcome Ms Welsh’s statement.
This comes as the new Health Minister, Robbie Butler MLA, is due to meet with the families of former patients of Muckamore in Belfast tomorrow.
The BBC article published today can be found at the following link: