Muckamore Abbey Hospital: Mike Nesbitt apologises for ‘evil’

The health minister has once again apologised for what he described as the “evil” perpetrated at Muckamore Abbey Hospital in County Antrim.

Speaking in the assembly, Mike Nesbitt said what happened was a ” true scandal”.

On Thursday, a long-awaited report into abuse at the hospital said a number of patients suffered physical abuse, including black eyes, broken bones, bruising and excessive restraint.

Nesbitt said the weight of evidence had provided a “watershed” moment for the treatment and care of the most vulnerable in society.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has said its Muckamore investigation is the biggest criminal adult safeguarding case of its kind in the UK.

In the assembly on Monday, Nesbitt said the report “helps us understand the failings of the past, and provides a road map for the work needed to address those issues”.

But, he said, it was “vital that we now move forward as a health and social care system, and importantly as a society, into a safer, more inclusive and accepting future for those most vulnerable in our society”.

He said a summit will take place with leaders from across the health and social care service to discuss a way forward.

He said he would set out his “vision and expectations regarding our collective responsibility as an HSC system to strengthen patient safety, culture, governance and accountability” during the summit.