Áras Attracta report to be released today

CHAIR Dr Kevin McCoy


Edwin McGreal

Long-awaited reports into the quality of care at the Áras Attracta facility in Swinford will be released in Dublin this morning (Tuesday) by the independent, HSE-appointed Áras Attracta Swinford Review Group. The reports, three in total, will be formally released by AASRG chair Dr Kevin McCoy.
The care facility in Swinford has been under the spotlight since undercover footage recorded by RTÉ’s Prime Time Investigates team showed staff members assaulting residents with physical and intellectual disabilities.
Six members of staff were taken to court, and one was was given a jail sentence.
The first of the three reports, entitled ‘What Matters Most’, sets out the findings of the review group in relation to Áras Attracta itself. According to a HSE statement, it includes recommendations relating to Áras Attracta management, actions for the HSE at a national level and a ‘road map’ to guide all managers of congregated settings as they move towards decongregation.
The second report, ‘Time For Action’, deals with the wider system of service provision for people with a disability. It proposes a range of actions, including priority actions that emerged from a national process of consultation with stakeholders involved in disability services and the wider public.
The final report, ‘Start Listening to Us’, is a documented record of the lived experiences of people with intellectual disability and how they perceive the support they receive.
The reports will be launched at 10.30am at Chartered Accountants House on Pearse St, in Dublin 2.
The AASRG is comprised for four members: Dr Kevin McCoy, a child-care and social-care consultant; Deirdre Carroll, an independent disability policy analyst; Ann Judge, a management and organisation development consultant; and Dr Bob McCormack, a service-quality consultant.
The review group worked for the bulk of 2015. In an introduction to a consultation document in July 2015, Dr Kevin McCoy said the AASRG members had been ‘upset’ and ‘angered’ by the abuse at Áras Attracta.
“Like many others, the members of the Áras Attracta Swinford Review Group have been upset and angered by the reports highlighting the incidents of abuse and the undignified treatment of people with intellectual disability. In too many cases, people have been let down when they were vulnerable and most needed help.
“It was for this reason the Health Service Executive set up the independent review group to review and provide assurance that the standards of care meet the needs of the residents in the Áras Attracta Service, Swinford, Co Mayo.”