Alleged abuse of care home residents at the Áras Attracta care centre is being investigated by the HSE after being exposed in an RTÉ documentary.
The documentary about the Áras Attracta care centre in Swinford, County Mayo, formed part of RTÉ´s Primetime program which was broadcast earlier this week. The documentary was based on secretly recorded video footage which showed staff at the centre slapping, kicking, and physically restraining residents with intellectual disabilities.
The footage had been recorded by an undercover researcher, posing as a work experience student, after a whistleblower had contacted RTÉ with allegations of mistreatment. The researcher filmed the abuse of care home residents in Unit Three of Áras Attracta – a bungalow that is home to three women – which included the women being confined to their chairs for hours at a time.
Before the program was broadcast, RTÉ contacted the HSE – the body ultimately responsible for the standard of care at the centre – who described the actions of the staff portrayed in the footage as “totally unacceptable”. Several staff have been suspended as a result of the HSE´s intervention, and the HSE has also the Gardaí and the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
The director general of the HSE, Tony O’Brien, said in a statement: “Much of what was viewed on Primetime falls well below the standards that we expect in the health services. Such standards should not and will not be tolerated in the HSE.” He added: “At the centre of many of these examples of poor practice is individual responsibility of staff members.”
The HSE also issued an apology to the residents of Áras Attracta and their families for the abuse of care home residents that had taken place. The statement continued that the HSE did not wish to “pre-empt the findings of an independent investigation” but that it has taken a number of immediate actions to “guarantee that a safe and caring environment exists for the residents of Unit Three”.
Commenting on the alleged abuse of care home residents, Kathleen Lynch – Minister of State at the Department of Health – “I refuse to believe Áras Attracta is the only place where this is happening. We are looking at what other processes we can put in place.” A spokesman for the minister said later that the HSE had allocated €1.3 million towards setting up safeguarding and protection teams in order that allegations of abuse were fully investigated.