Woman had suspicious bruising, says HSE whistleblower

The young woman at the centre of an abuse controversy in the southeast was twice brought to hospital to have bruising around her breast and thigh examined, before being returned to her foster home, a social worker has alleged.

The foster home, in which 47 highly vulnerable children and young adults with intellectual disabilities were placed between 1983 and 2013, will be at the centre of a commission of investigation to be established by the next government, it was announced last night.

The young woman, “Grace”, was brought to hospital on two occasions by a HSE social worker, who says he “could not persuade the HSE to take the legal steps necessary to end” her placement in the home.

Finally removed

He says he warned the HSE could be prosecuted if she remained there. He says she was finally removed in 2009 after he contacted her birth mother, who, on hearing of the injuries to “Grace”, travelled to the area to insist the HSE remove her.

The social worker, who has since left the HSE and works in another jurisdiction, became a whistleblower before he left the organisation, bringing his concerns to Minister for Health Leo Varadkar in September 2014. He says when he became aware of Grace in 2007, she had not had a HSE visit in six years. He says the foster home was never properly assessed.

Grace, who has severe intellectual disabilities and is non-verbal, was placed in the home aged 11 in 1989. Though all new HSE placements ceased in 1996 amid concerns about alleged abuse, Grace remained until 2009. One other woman, also with intellectual disabilities, remained there until 2013, placed there privately by her family.

Two examinations have already been completed into the alleged abuse and the handling of the allegations by the South Eastern Health Board, and subsequently the HSE. A third, by Conor Dignam SC, is expected to finish in April. A Garda investigation is ongoing. HSE director general Tony O'Brien is to appear before the Public Accounts Committee today.