Muckamore Abbey Hospital

The facility, which is located just south of a ruined Augustinian priory, opened as a mental health facility in 1949. A "special care colony" for people with an intellectual disability, with capacity of up to 1,000 patients, was added in 1958. The staff failed to realise in 2017 that the hospital's new CCTV system was recording all activities in the hospital. Some 300,000 hours of footage was discovered including "accounts of patients facing appalling cruelty and physical abuse, and being ignored while seriously unwell." This case has been called "the largest systemic abuse case uncovered in the UK". ==Statutory inquiry==

A statutory inquiry was announced on 8 September 2020 and was established on 11 October 2021 to examine the issue of abuse of patients at the hospital. The purpose of the Inquiry was stated as: "to ensure that such abuse does not occur again at MAH or any other institution in Northern Ireland which provides similar services". The total expenditure known to 31 March 2025 was £13.56m, and final costs will be published later. The Inquiry has been criticised by families of patients, and by public health expert Dr Gabriel Scally. As of 15 July 2025, a report is being prepared. == References ==