'My son's carer was asked to demonstrate how he bites people'

A mother has said it was "traumatising" when her disabled son's care manager was asked to demonstrate over a Zoom call how he reacts when he is distressed, including how he bites people.

The request was made during a three-hour call with an independent company which was reviewing the care of Timothy Jones, 31, who has severe learning difficulties.

Timothy was a patient at Muckamore Abbey Hospital for 12 years. His mum, Dawn, testified to a recent public inquiry that her son had been abused there.

Belfast Trust has apologised to the Jones family and said it was working with the company in question, Liaison Care, "so that this does not happen again".

Dawn said the meeting was "intrusive and re-traumatising", and that from the questions clearly the panel had no idea of her son's past experiences 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 company based in England and is undertaking reviews of domiciliary care packages in Northern Ireland, including those of adults transferred from Muckamore Abbey Hospital.

On the company's website it states if their services are commissioned and they do not make savings, they will not charge.

Muckamore has been the subject of a public inquiry into the abuse of patients but it has yet to make its final report public.

The review of Timothy, who is non-verbal, involved a panel of three in England, as well as his mum at her home along with Timothy's specialist service manager, Sophie Spence, who was in her office.

According to Spence, "alarm bells were ringing" from the moment Liaison Care contacted Timothy by letter - even though he cannot read or write.

She said the amount of information the company requested before the call suggested they might come with a more considered approach.

"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 said given the in-depth nature of the questioning she did not think it was appropriate to have Timothy's mother, Dawn, 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 dedicated to 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.

She said during her 31 years in the business she had never known an external company from England to review health services in Northern Ireland, and she had yet to hear from the trust about either the nature or result of the review.

Lunny described her staff being asked 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 said she had been contacted by other families and charities who were concerned that the motives behind the company were all about cuts to services.

The independent health and social care think tank, The Nuffield Trust said all UK nations were attempting to make savings in health and social care, but added that it was key that the person remained at the centre of any review.

Liaison Care said it did not comment on individual cases but it remained fully committed to supporting the Belfast Trust in any further investigation.

Muckamore Abbey Hospital, based in Antrim, provided facilities for adults for special needs. It was run by the Belfast Health Trust.

A major police investigation began in 2017 after allegations of ill-treatment at the hospital began to emerge.

The final public hearing of the inquiry into the abuse took place in early March.

The hospital was due to close in June 2024 but this was delayed as alternative accommodation placements in the community had not been found for all the remaining patients.

The Belfast Trust said it was "disappointed to learn of Ms Jones' experience with Liaison Care and we sincerely apologise".

It said it had commissioned Liaison Care to carry out 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," it added.

The Department of Health said 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," it said.

It added that the department had received "a number of queries in relation to this work, and officials have 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.