WHAT AGONY DID OUR BROTHER HAVE TO SUFFER IN SILENCE?
Family’s fury after care bosses fail to alert police
The family of a man with Down’s syndrome fear he was attacked by an NHS carer.
In a two- year ordeal, Michael Howard, 53, suffered black eyes and broken ribs at the care centre and was struck so hard that he had to be rushed to hospital.
NHS worker George Mayne, 45, was sacked after one incident when Michael – who cannot speak – needed hospital treatment for cuts in his groin after suffering a blunt force trauma.
Managers at the Waterloo Close NHS care facility in Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, ordered special protection for Michael and five other residents.
But they failed to alert police, meaning the chance to gather crucial forensic evidence was lost.
The NHS have offered £ 750 as a “gesture of goodwill” but Michael’ s brothers Neil and Tony dismissed the offer a nd say managers do not understand what he has endured.
Neil, 68, of Glasgow, said: “The person responsible for abusing Michael should be behind bars. We’ve been unable to speak out while legal proceedings have been ongoing but now we are determined to expose what went on. We want justice done.”
Michael – who has a profound form of Down’s – has been in NHS care almost all of his life.
The family feared he was being physically abused shortly after he was transferred to Waterloo Close in 2012.
Retired butcher Neil said: “Michael had no track record of being to accident and emergency but suddenly he was suffering all manner of injuries that could not be explained.
“He got a sore face which was absolutely shocking – he needed six stitches. One person said he’d tripped over his duvet but the manager was saying that he put his shoes on the wrong feet and fell over the laces.
“They had no idea how he got three broken ribs and we only found out when he was taken to Stobhill Hospital with a chest infection and it came up on an X-ray. We had strong suspicions something untoward was happening. Michael suddenly wouldn’t go into the big communal sitting area with all the patients and staff.
“We believe he was scared to go in and was protecting himself.”
Michael’s ordeal came to a head when he was rushed to hospital on July 7,2014, after being found covered in blood with a serious wound to his genitals.
The doctor treating him at Glasgow Royal Infirmary insisted on contacting social services.
Michael was eventually put under adult protection, along with five other residents.
But management at Waterloo Close failed to immediately alert the police.
Neil said: “The doctor at the Royal Infirmary had said it was a blunt force trauma and that he had to notify social services. If he hadn’t taken that action, we might never have known what had happened.”
Four days later, Michael’s family discovered someone at the centre had been suspended.
Neil said: “We began to realise there was more to this. When I asked if the police had been notified, the manager said, wrongly, ‘ That’s not our job to do that’. So I notified the police.”
The frustrated family contacted lawyers.
Neil said: “We were told it was nigh-on impossible to bring forward a private prosecution but the lawyers decided to pursue compensation.
“The NHS deny any liability but have offered £750 as a gesture of goodwill. This is not about money but we believe that offer to be derogatory.”
Mayne was sacked after an NHS investigation into the incident but appealed and was reinstated.
A Glasgow City Community Health & Social Care Partnership spokesman said: “A member of staff who had his employment terminated has been reinstated after a dismissal appeal.
“He has been redeployed to another facility and no longer has any contact with the patient or his family.
“The patient’s family submitted a complaint at the time which was addressed through our formal complaints process. If the family have further concerns we will be happy to discuss these further with them.”
The Sunday Mail confronted Mayne at his home in Lennoxtown for his reaction to the claims.
He said: “I won my appeal and I’m currently back working in NHS Scotland. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
He had a sore face which needed six stitches. They had no idea how he got three broken ribs