Muckamore patient 'stopped smiling' during time at hospital, inquiry told

By Judith Hill

The sister of a former patient at Muckamore Abbey has told an inquiry looking into the abuse of patients at the hospital, that there was anarchy and a breakdown of civilised behaviour among staff.

Antoinette’s brother Martin, was a patient there between 1990 and 2015. Their full names have been withheld to protect the family’s identity.

On the first day the inquiry has heard from families, Antoinette told the panel her parents regularly witnessed Martin being pinned down by staff. When the family raised concerns, she said they were told this was an acceptable form of treatment.

Martin, who has complex needs, became a patient at Muckamore when he was six-years-old. He was a day patient until he was 16, when he became a resident there.

Antoinette said when Martin was a teenager the family received a number of phone calls to inform them of a series of assaults. Among the incidents detailed, his sister said he was violently pushed into his wheelchair, had a bottle of water poured over him, was struck and verbally abused.

Antoinette said her brother totally changed in that time: “He stopped smiling, he sat in his room, he didn’t want to engage.” The Inquiry heard that the family found it hard to get information about what had happened to Martin and felt “stone walled” by management.

“It was chilling, people knew that abuse was common place. I worried about what was happening when no-one was looking.”

“You got the sense that no-one cared and everyone knew… From Muckamore we were just getting standard phrases, there was no human element to it… But families can no longer be stonewalled or gaslit.”

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