Muckamore Inquiry: Call for information on patient resettlement
The Muckamore Abbey Hospital Inquiry panel has called on those with personal experiences of resettlement from the hospital to come forward.The panel will use any information given to help inform its final report.The resettlement process, aimed at moving patients to community placements, has been a complex undertaking.A missed June 2024 target hospital closure date was dependent on all the remaining patients successfully moving to agreed alternative accommodation placements in the community.
The panel wants to hear from patients, their relatives and carers involved in the process from 14 June 2021 to the present day, regardless of whether or not they have already assisted the inquiry.Those willing to share information can do so through small group sessions before the panel; individual attendance before the panel in early June; or by providing a note of their experience to the panel.The deadline for people to contact the inquiry is 25 April and can be done via the inquiry website.The inquiry into what happened at the Antrim-based hospital, which provides facilities for adults for special needs, began in June 2022.The final public hearing of the inquiry took place in early March.A separate major police investigation began in 2017 after allegations of ill-treatment began to emerge.Sitting for 120 days, the inquiry heard oral evidence from 181 witnesses.It is due to publish its findings later this year.It is thought to be the biggest criminal adult safeguarding case of its kind in the UK.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
3 hours ago
- NBC News
At least 1.7 million eggs recalled as the CDC and FDA investigate multistate Salmonella outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are investigating a multistate Salmonella outbreak linked to at least 1.7 million eggs, according to a news release issued on Saturday. The brown cage free and brown certified organic eggs were distributed by the August Egg Company from February 3 through May 15 to retailers in nine states — California, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Nebraska, New Mexico, Illinois, Indiana and Wyoming, per the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In an announcement issued Friday, the Hilmar, California-based distribution company recalled 1,700,000 eggs, which have sell by dates ranging from March 4 to June 19 and were sold at retailers including Walmart and Safeway, as well as under many different brands that can be seen here. So far, the outbreak has sickened 79 people in New Jersey, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nevada, Arizona, Washington and California, the CDC said. At least 21 people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported. "This outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses, and the true number of sick people is likely much higher than the number reported," the CDC said. "This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for Salmonella." Salmonella are bacteria that can make people sick if they consume contaminated food and water, or touch animals, their fecal matter or the areas they live in, according to the CDC. It is "a leading cause of food-borne illness, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States and worldwide," causing about 1.35 million infections in the U.S. every year. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps and can start six hours to six days after consumption of the bacteria. Children under five, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems can become seriously ill as a result of contracting Salmonella. The CDC is advising anyone that has the recalled eggs in their home to throw them away or return them to the retailer that sold it to them. Businesses with recalled eggs should not sell or serve them, and should sanitize any item or surface that came into contact with the eggs. The August Egg Company said they began taking their eggs to an "egg-breaking facility" to pasteurize them and kill pathogens after learning about the Salmonella concern. "August Egg Company's internal food safety team also is conducting its own stringent review to identify what measures can be established to prevent this situation from recurring," the company said in a statement. "We are committed to addressing this matter fully and to implementing all necessary corrective actions to ensure this does not happen again." This isn't the only Salmonella outbreak the U.S. is currently grappling with. Last month, the FDA announced a recall of cucumbers grown by Bedner Growers and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales due to a Salmonella outbreak that has sickened 45 people and hospitalized 16 across 18 states. The FDA's investigation into the cucumbers is ongoing.
The Herald Scotland
12 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Former Kilmarnock player tackling jungles and deserts to help daughter
The former midfielder has made his peace with the fact that his daughter will never date a boyfriend, never get married, never have children or find an escape from the 50 different symptoms associated with a debilitating illness. The one thing he can't accept is the impotence of sitting around, doing nothing. His solution is extreme in a very real sense. To raise money for the Reverse Rett charity, 56-year-old 'Mavis' completed the infamous Marathon des Sables over seven days of gruelling heat then finished third in the 230-kilometre Ultra Marathon in Peru last year. On Saturday he tackles the 104-mile Ultra Scotland event between Dalry and Melrose and while his fundraising efforts have contributed over £100k to the search for a cure, the benefits to his own state of mind have been equally undeniable. 'I always say to people that Dionne's condition has given me some unbelievable life experiences and made me realise what's important in life,' he tells Herald Sport. 'Ordinarily I would have never have done the events I've done. Subconsciously I think it also became a substitute for me for the loss of football as well. I played for 21 years and from the age of 22, I started to train every day as if I was contesting a World Cup final.' He retired from playing for St Mirren in 2006 and found coaching an unfulfilling experience. Managing two Subway stores in Coatbridge and Bellshill failed to fill the void left by professional football. In 2008 the credit crunch came along and swallowed up the profits. A neighbour flagged up a recruitment drive by Police Scotland and, after 15 years on the thin blue line, he accepted a role with a London-based charity supporting survivors of human trafficking. His work provides a constant reminder that everyone has their crosses to bear. 'Dionne was 11 months old and there was no sign of crawling or walking before she started refluxing and being sick 20 or 30 times a day,' he recalls of the period when he realised his daughter was ill. Regular visits to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow and Wishaw General failed to come up with a conclusive diagnosis. A breakthrough came, unexpectedly, during a family holiday in Florida when he googled neurologists and found one 30 minutes away. Costing £800, tests and blood samples came back showing that Dionne had a rare genetic neurological and developmental disorder which affects the way the brain develops. Primarily found in females Rett Syndrome causes a progressive loss of motor skills and language. Reverse Rett is a research organisation focussed on delivering treatment to sufferers. While they can do little for Dionne in the here and now, Reilly's quest for a future breakthrough has brought some startling and unexpected life experiences. 'Originally I started doing the events to raise awareness for the charity and for Dionne,' Reilly explains. 'But through that I discovered that I was getting something from it as well. 'You can never replace the adrenaline of playing on a Saturday, but the illness gave me a purpose and incentive to keep fit and healthy and switch from a team event to seeing how far I could push myself.' He began modestly with a Glasgow 10k in 2012 before moving on to the Three Peaks Challenge, spanning Ben Nevis, Scaffel Pike in the Lake District and Snowdon in Wales over the course of 24 hours. A formidable challenge to even the toughest of mortals, Reilly was convinced to go higher, harder. Read more: Malky Mackay on Hibs' £5m chance, training-ground plan and the Black Knights Stephen McGowan: Is Dermot Desmond absentee landlord or Celtic mastermind? Incorporating a 2.4-mile swim in open water, 112 miles on a bike, then a marathon, Iron Man events offered an immediate challenge. He couldn't swim and hadn't cycled since the age of 10. Signing up to a swimming club and purchasing an aluminium bike for £500, he completed two Iron Man events before setting his sights on the legendary Marathon des Sables, a 160-mile ultramarathon held every year in the Sahara Desert. 'There was a freak heatwave and the temperatures were almost 60 degrees centigrade every day,' he recalled. 'A French competitor died on day two and one of my tent mates suffered a cardiac arrest. He was dead for two minutes before they managed to bring him back.' Even a brutal test of endurance failed to tick off all the boxes on the bucket list to end them all. Last year he ran 230 kilometres through the Amazon Jungle in Peru and finished third. 'Prior to the year I did it, only 15 per cent of the competitors finished it,' Reilly explains. 'Day two we hit the jungle and day three was incredible. We went through a protected area where less than 50 westerners had ever ventured. 'One of the reasons for that is that they have a protected species of bat, with only six of them left on the planet. 'We stayed that night with a small indigenous tribe in the jungle. Only 12 people in the whole world spoke the tribe's language. You would put your hammock up and sleep dangling between a couple of trees.' His Just Giving efforts have now raised over £60,000. His autobiography and other initiatives bolster the tally to something in the region of £100k and on Saturday he plans to raise the tally a little more by completing 104 miles and four marathons on the Southern Upland Way between Dalry and Melrose in the Ultra Scotland race. It's a long way from his old, distant life as a professional footballer with Motherwell, Killie, St Johnstone and St Mirren. 'I was at Killie 11 years or so and I had my best memories at Rugby Park, winning the Scottish Cup. But I hardly watch any games on TV these days,' he says. Gathering dust in the attic, he gifted his Scottish Cup jersey and medal away to a diehard Kilmarnock fan and gave a Kaiserslautern jersey acquired after a UEFA Cup defeat in 1999 to a roofer working on his home. 'The experience and the memories sustain me more than souvenirs,' he explains. 'Going down John Finnie Street with the cup and seeing people happy is what I think of. 'Kilmarnock still ask me to do the in-house TV channel and the truth is that I barely know the players. I loved my career and gave it everything and I don't know if subconsciously this is just the way I cope with the loss of that, but I couldn't tell you the last live game I was at or the last 90 minutes I watched on TV. 'I love my boxing now and if you gave me the choice now of watching the Champions League final or a big title fight, I'd watch the boxing.' Mark Reilly will complete the Ultra Scotland race today (Saturday 7 June 2025). To support his fund-raising efforts for Rett Syndrome research visit
The National
a day ago
- The National
Perthshire children's hospice announces major £17 million revamp
The Kinross-based Rachel House is one of two children's hospices run by Children's Hospices Across Scotland (Chas) and will undergo 'extensive upgrades' to ensure it continues to meet the needs of the families who rely on it. The redesign will include an additional hydrotherapy pool, better-equipped bedrooms, and fully accessible adventure gardens. Work on the building is due to start next year, with the full project set for completion in 2027, subject to approval from Perth and Kinross Council. READ MORE: More than £1m in funding announced for restoration projects for Scottish coastline The charity said that the redesign had 'put children and families at the heart of the process' with their input key to the changes being made. Dr Qusai Alhamdan, whose children Mo and Elaine have been supported by Rachel House since 2021, said Rachel House holds a 'very close' place in her family's hearts. The children both suffer from ataxia with oculomotor apraxia, which causes problems with movement, co-ordination and balance. (Image: Children's Hospices Across Scotland) 'As their condition is degenerative, making memories together as a family is very important to us and we have spent many wonderful respite visits at Rachel House over the last four years,' Alhamdan said. 'My wife Esraa and I find our visits to the hospice very relaxing because we don't have to worry about our caring responsibilities as the lovely nurses and staff take over and do everything that is needed so we can just enjoy precious time together.' Built in 1996, Rachel House cost £10m and supported just under 100 children a year in the first few years. Now that number has more than doubled and continues to rise, the charity said. Ken Lowndes' two daughters, Jenny and Marion, were two of the first children to be cared for when the hospice first opened. Both were born healthy, normal babies, but with a two-year age gap, Jenny and Marion were diagnosed with leukodystrophy when they were four years old. Before Rachel House opened, the family made a regular 900-mile round trip from their home in Achiltibuie, north of Ullapool, to Martin House in West Yorkshire. (Image: Children's Hospices Across Scotland) Lowndes said: 'The time we had together in Rachel House was precious for our whole family. It was a place my wife Ann and I felt supported and where we knew our girls would be loved and cared for. 'Children's hospices can sound frightening but in reality it's a place of joy, light and humour, where memories are made and where parents can recharge their batteries and can just be parents – not parent, medic, and round the clock carer.' He added: 'We helped to fundraise for Rachel House but we never knew if Jenny and Marion would get to visit, if they'd live to see it. They did. They loved it, as did we all. 'Ensuring the next generation of families has the same standard of care that my family experienced is vital and the redesigned Rachel House will go on to make a huge difference to hundreds more Scottish families.' Chas CEO, Rami Okasha, said the project is a huge development for the charity, but one they haven't taken on lightly. He added that the charity wants to transform end-of-life care for children and continue to deliver the highest level of care at the hospice. Okasha said: 'CHAS gives unwavering care to children who may die young, and their families, at every step on the hardest of journeys. Rebuilding Rachel House will cost £17 million and is part of getting that right. Applying for planning permission today is the first important step for us. (Image: Children's Hospices Across Scotland) 'This is a huge project for us and one we haven't taken on lightly. We want to transform end-of-life care for children and their families in Scotland. While Rachel House has served hundreds of families well until now, to deliver the high-level care required long into the future we need to upgrade and rebuild. Okasha added: 'No one should face the death of their child alone and to be successful we are once again asking or donors to get on board and help raise the millions of pounds that will make a difference every day for families dealing with the unimaginable reality of loving and caring for a child who will die young.'
