The PSNI says it is investigating 1,500 cases of alleged physical and mental abuse of vulnerable adult patients at one ward at Muckamore Abbey Hospital in Co Antrim.
Twenty staff, mainly nurses, have been suspended as a result of the allegations relating to incidents at the hospital which provides treatment for people with severe learning disabilities and mental health needs.
The lead investigating officer Det Chief Insp Jill Duffie said it is the "largest adult safeguarding case" of its kind undertaken by the PSNI, and possibly the largest such case ever in the United Kingdom.
Det Chief Insp Duffie told the Irish News that the investigation was now reaching a “crucial stage”. She said that viewing of hundreds of thousands of hours of CCTV footage relating to the ward that prompted the investigation was almost concluded and that criminal interviews were imminent.
So far 20 staff have been suspended following allegations of assault and the inflicting of cruelty on adults with a severe learning disability in 2017. She expected further suspensions as a result of the evidence from the CCTV cameras, which staff did not realise were switched on at the time.
“We’re concentrating at the moment on the incidents that happened in the psychiatric intensive care unit and to date we’re investigating over 400 incidents,” said Dete Chief Insp Duffie. These patients were “some of the most vulnerable in society”, she added.
“Within those 400 incidents, we’re looking at approximately 1,500 crimes. Largely this relates to physical abuse of the patients, wilful neglect of patients and inappropriate use of seclusion,” she said.
The officer said that there “has been no sexual abuse captured on the footage”.
Det Chief Insp Duffie took over the Muckamore Abbey Hospital abuse investigation in January. She has a team of more than 20 officers who have been examining the footage “minute by minute” over the past year.
She said she understood that some families of patients were frustrated at the pace of the investigation but that working through the footage was a “complex” operation. “We have a really good relationship with the families affected and I think the vast majority understand what we’re up against... however I totally understand families’ frustrations at the length of time it’s taken,” she told the Irish News..
“If I could reassure them we are working through the CCTV diligently and really minute by minute to ensure nothing’s missed and that we get a full picture of what exactly happened,” she added.
Det Chief Insp Duffie said her officers were liaising with detectives investigating the 2011 Winterbourne View and the 2019 Whorlton Hall hospital cases in England where similar abuse was exposed by BBC's Panorama programme.
She said, “As a senior investigating officer in any major investigation, it makes sense that you reach out to other large-scale adult safeguarding investigations that involve multiple victims and multiple suspects. You seek to see from your colleagues what went well, what worked, what could have went better and best practice really.”
