A PRIVATE hospital, owned by Irish investors including J.P.McManus, Denis Brosnan, Dermot Desmond and John Magnier, where vulnerable patients were allegedly encouraged to commit suicide, “failed to address corporate responsibility’ an inquiry has found. The BBC’s Panorama programme uncovered a litany of abuse at the now closed Winterbourne View hospital in Bristol owned by the Castlebeck company. Eleven former staff are awaiting sentencing having pleaded guilty to charges of beating patients with autism and learning difficulties, dousing them in water and encouraging some to consider suicide.
According to a report in the Irish Times newspaper, an inquiry by the Serious Case Review has this week found that Castlebeck “appears to have made decisions about profitability, including shareholder returns, over and above decisions about the effective and humane delivery of assessment, treatment and rehabilitation”.
“It is clear that at critical points in the wretched history of Winterbourne View, key decisions about priorities were taken by Castlebeck which impaired the ability of the hospital to improve the mental health and physical health and well-being of its patients,” the report continued.
Commenting on the matter last year, Denis Brosnan said that the investors had been “shocked and appalled at what happened and determined that this will never happen again”.
