{"id":7576,"date":"2026-09-15T14:46:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T13:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oreillystewart.com\/?p=7576"},"modified":"2026-09-15T14:46:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T13:46:21","slug":"chief-executive-of-belfast-health-and-social-care-trust-expresses-deep-shame-over-the-abuse-of-patients-at-muckamore-abbey-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oreillystewart.com\/chief-executive-of-belfast-health-and-social-care-trust-expresses-deep-shame-over-the-abuse-of-patients-at-muckamore-abbey-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"Muckamore Abbey Hospital Inquiry &#8220;a Dark Chapter&#8221; in Patient care"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019s Health Committee, that the Muckamore scandal had been <em>\u201ca dark chapter\u201d<\/em> in the history of healthcare for vulnerable patients.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Welsh was also noted to have commented that the impact of the Muckamore Abbey Inquiry Report was <em>\u201cilluminating a rot that permeated deep into a culture and a way of life at Muckamore that was systemic.\u201d<\/em> She also reiterated her <em>\u201cprofound and unreserved apology to the people who lived at Muckamore Abbey Hospital and who experienced abuse, neglect and at times cruelty.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Ms Welsh also accepted that the Belfast Trust had been adversarial in their approach to the Inquiry and concluded that she thought <em>\u201cit is shameful that Northern Ireland has had so many public inquiries across health and social services.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>We continue to represent a number of the Core Participants to the Inquiry and again welcome Ms Welsh\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>The BBC article published today can be found at the following link:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/crp3kzwxd3kjo\">https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/crp3kzwxd3kjo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019s Health Committee, that the Muckamore scandal had been \u201ca dark chapter\u201d in the history of healthcare for vulnerable patients. Ms Welsh was also noted to have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"class_list":["post-7576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Muckamore Abbey Hospital Inquiry &quot;a Dark Chapter&quot; in Patient care - O\u2019Reilly Stewart Solicitors - Belfast, Northern Ireland, Legal Firm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF BELFAST HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE TRUST EXPRESSES \u201cDEEP SHAME\u201d OVER THE ABUSE OF PATIENTS AT MUCKAMORE ABBEY HOSPITAL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oreillystewart.com\/chief-executive-of-belfast-health-and-social-care-trust-expresses-deep-shame-over-the-abuse-of-patients-at-muckamore-abbey-hospital\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Muckamore Abbey Hospital Inquiry &quot;a Dark Chapter&quot; 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