I heard on the local radio news a few days ago, about Muckamore Abbey Hospital. People with severe learning disabilities
are being kept in the hospital, in wards which are locked at night, because more suitable accommodation has not been arranged for them. According to a
BBC report;
One man was ready to leave the hospital 10 years ago. He is still there. He is one of 118 people whose treatment is complete - but his discharge has been delayed because there's nowhere suitable for him to go. For over 10 years, there has been a policy that no-one should live long term in hospital. Hospitals like Muckamore should be used to assess and treat people prior to their discharge.
And also;
And there's another problem. Some locked and unlocked wards were recently amalgamated at Muckamore and that has meant about 20 adults now find themselves locked up - even though they have never been assessed as needing secure accommodation.
Now some have expressed concern that these people's human rights are being abused.
Well, too right their human rights are being abused. I don't know what I can do about this, but there has to be something. It cannot be allowed to happen without concerned citizens making some sort of protest.
7 comments:
"Good post" just wont be good enough for me to make on post like this one.
I mean your family is so cool. I like reading about them. You have a great way of expressing your experiances....and then you go and write something like this....
Im going to read more about this. Ill comment again later.
I mean, really, this blogging you are doing is....I dont know what to say.
Whatever is effecting your blogging lately, keep doing it!
This is important. Ill comment later....
European Court of Human Rights?
Best wishes
Sharon, Thanks so much for posting this. It will take me some time to understand it better.
Im glad that there are people like you who are concerned and your approach is the right one. I am very well educated about this type of attitude although my experiance is from a different location. I want to understand this particular problem better and I believe that as a person who is concerned and has dealt with similar attitudes of those making these decisions,I can and will read what I can and post what I learn in an effort to help.
If you would rather that I post my ideas where its not taking up your comment section maybe that will be better. Ill try to let you know what I find out.I dont yet know how to post links and that is probably what I will initially find. Again thankyou for bringing this particular situation to my attention.It is my intention to bring more attention to these issues.
Hello Ed, I'm grateful for your input and welcome any advice you can give. I've only just heard of this place, though I'm sure there are others like it here and all over Ireland and the UK. I feel totally at a loss of what I can do here. The story was reported on local radio and news channels, but I can't see it mentioned anywhere else, so I don't know who is involved in trying to change this. I'm going to write to my MP, though this isn't in her constituency.
It really is awful. As part of the peace negotiations here in Northern Ireland, there was a decision made to give all the prisoners convicted of politically motivated crimes (ie, terrorists) early release from prison. There's a distinct lack of perspective when entirely innocent people, even children, are still imprisoned in totally unsuitable accommodation.
Sharon,
I am contiuing to find out what I can about this as I said I would. Here are two aspects of what Im learning:
1) There are things going on in that part of the world that influence whats going on that I dont know about nor do I know how people who are concerned have protested what they see is wrong.
2) While the people that I DO know of in the U.S. who know about such injustices here are not as organized as we need to be we are sure of what we know. There are groups and agencies in the U.S. that ARE influencing whats going on there that are part of the problem there. Ive researched it and know this to be true. I know alot about these groups and agencies and what motivates them and who they are connected with.I cant be more specific and give more details until I can tell you how those details can be helpful.
As Ive said, the best way that Ive found to understand and show people whats going on is wrong from a human rights perspective is to help people understand that the decisions that are being made are almost completely if not completly, base on motivation that is not based on what is best for the person who is being treated this way.
While that may seem simple, its important to realize that there are alot of adverage people who dont know or understand this who will stand up against it once they do.
I can tell you from experiance that what Im talking about can make a difference.I strongly believe that it has made a difference in every part of the world since the begining of time. There ARE people who care and people who care CAN make a difference. There is hope in compassion and in compassionate people.
Im sorry this is all I have so far.
Ill keep learning more and tell you what I learn.
Sad to see that this whole thing was just a slash in the pan, a headline for the BBC and already the promised visits to Muckamore Abbey have been postponed and cancelled.
Nothing has changed and my brother still has less rights than a murderer.
MJ thanks for commenting. I'm so sorry to hear that your brother is one of those being mistreated so badly. Do you know of any campaign group that has taken this on? Have the NSPCC or Barnardos been involved (since some of these people are children)? What do you think can be done? What possible reason have they given for your brother's imprisonment? I'd really like to help some way.
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