Review Request Causes Distress to Family of Disabled Man
A mother described a "traumatising" experience when her disabled son's care manager was asked to demonstrate via a Zoom call how he reacts when distressed, including how he bites people. This occurred during a three-hour call with an independent company reviewing the care of Timothy Jones, 31, who has severe learning difficulties.
Timothy was a patient at Muckamore Abbey Hospital for 12 years. His mother, Dawn, testified at a recent public inquiry that her son had been abused while at the hospital.
The Belfast Trust has issued an apology to the Jones family and stated it is working with the company involved, Liaison Care, "so that this does not happen again."
Dawn described the meeting as "intrusive and re-traumatising," noting that the questions indicated the panel was unaware of her son's history at the hospital.
"I couldn't believe what I was hearing," said Dawn. "They were asking us to act out how he bites people. There was no sensitivity, I got quite upset which didn't seem to register with them. It was dreadful."
Liaison Care is a private consultancy based in England conducting reviews of domiciliary care packages in Northern Ireland, including those for adults transferred from Muckamore Abbey Hospital.
The company's website states that if their services are commissioned and they do not make savings, they will not charge.
Muckamore Abbey Hospital has been the subject of a public inquiry into patient abuse, though its final report has not yet been published.
The review of Timothy, who is non-verbal, involved a panel of three people in England, as well as his mother at her home and Timothy's specialist service manager, Sophie Spence, who participated from her office.
According to Spence, "alarm bells were ringing" from the moment Liaison Care contacted Timothy by letter, despite his inability to read or write.
She noted that the extensive information requested before the call suggested a more considered approach might be taken.
"What really crossed a line for me was being asked to physically demonstrate how Timothy presents when he is distressed including what he does when biting," she said. "That's not reasonable, especially over a video call. We were really shocked by this request."
Spence expressed concern that given the detailed nature of the questioning, it was inappropriate for Timothy's mother to be on the call for more than three hours.
"This review should have been handled with a trauma-informed approach at its core," she continued. "Instead, there was very little awareness of the emotional impact their questions were having on a family already carrying the heavy burden of the Muckamore Abbey inquiry process. Adding to that in this way isn't acceptable and frankly, indefensible."
Spence works for Positive Futures, a charity supporting children, young people, and adults with learning disabilities, acquired brain injuries, and autism.
Its chief executive, Agnes Lunny, said her staff were "appalled" at how the reviews were being conducted "over a Zoom call."
"These families whose children were in Muckamore are already anxious and stressed," she said.
Lunny added that in her 31 years in the sector, she had never known an external company from England to review health services in Northern Ireland and had not received information from the trust about the nature or results of the review.
Lunny described the request for staff to act out Timothy's behaviour as "appalling."
"This is about cost saving and it's all over the company's website. In fact, it goes as far as to say you'll only pay us if we save you money," she said.
She also mentioned being contacted by other families and charities concerned that the company's motives were focused on cutting services.
The independent health and social care think tank, The Nuffield Trust, acknowledged that all UK nations are attempting to make savings in health and social care but emphasized that the individual must remain central to any review.
Liaison Care declined to comment on individual cases but stated it remains fully committed to supporting the Belfast Trust in any further investigation.
What happened at Muckamore?
Muckamore Abbey Hospital, located in Antrim, provided facilities for adults with special needs and was managed by the Belfast Health Trust.
A major police investigation began in 2017 following allegations of ill-treatment at the hospital.
The final public hearing of the inquiry into the abuse took place in early March.
The hospital was scheduled to close in June 2024, but this was delayed as alternative community placements had not been found for all remaining patients.
What has the Belfast Trust said?
The Belfast Trust expressed disappointment upon learning of Ms. Jones' experience with Liaison Care and issued a sincere apology.
It explained that it had commissioned Liaison Care to conduct independent clinical and social care reviews for some service users with complex needs.
"These reviews provide a further level of independent assurance that the care provided by Belfast Trust effectively meets those needs," the Trust added.
The Department of Health stated that trusts had engaged an independent firm to support reviews of care management plans for service users with complex needs.
"Ongoing reviews of care management plans are important and part of normal trust operations," the department said.
It also noted that it had received several queries regarding this work and had asked trusts to provide further information.
"However, we would encourage anyone with queries or concerns about individual assessments to contact their host trust," the department added.
