Muckamore inquiry: Staff accused of ignoring TB symptoms

The mother of a patient at Muckamore Abbey Hospital has described how her son contracted tuberculosis (TB) while at the hospital.

She said he had been left severely disabled after a series of associated strokes.

Patient P116 is now 40 years old and has suffered from severe epilepsy since he was a baby.

His mother told the inquiry into abuse at the hospital that her concerns over her son's health were ignored.

She said that even after he began developing symptoms - including losing six stone (38kg) of weight - staff seemed "not to care".

In the end, he was only diagnosed with TB after his mother took him to hospital herself.

Due to the delay in the diagnosis and the way the family's complaint was handled, a serious adverse incident review was carried out and P116's mother received a letter of apology from the then permanent secretary at the Department of Health, Richard Pengelly, and Theresa Villiers, who was Northern Ireland secretary at the time.

His mother told the inquiry her son's time in Muckamore remained a "major trauma" for the family and she still found it very difficult to talk about.

She told the inquiry she felt strongly that "independent expert support" should be given to patients abused or neglected in Muckamore, including specialist counselling for the patients and their families.

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Source: BBC News, 12 October 2023