A fresh 'safeguarding incident' relating to a vulnerable patient at Muckamore Abbey Hospital was reported to a trust boss this week - on the same day a damning report exposed serious management failings at the facility.
The chief executive of the Belfast health trust, Dr Cathy Jack, has confirmed she was notified on Wednesday morning, ahead of the publication of a devastating independent review which found an opportunity was missed by senior staff to prevent "morally unacceptable" abuse in 2017.
A PSNI spokeswoman said it had been "made aware of a recent adult safeguarding incident at a care facility in Antrim".
"Enquiries are ongoing," she said.
Trust officials also confirmed last night that another member of staff has been suspended following allegations linked to historical abuse of patients captured on CCTV - bringing the total number to 60. The majority of suspensions relate to nursing staff.
In an interview with The Irish News, Dr Jack - who was not in post when the scandal broke two years ago - described the scale of the wrongdoing as "indefensible" and welcomed the 215-page report which she said "doesn't hold back in its punches".
A further two safeguarding incidents have been reported to police over the past month, she confirmed, one of which resulted in an agency nurse having shifts "withdrawn".
Analysis: Damning Muckamore review strengthens calls for public inquiry into abuse scandal
Dr Jack said that while the Co Antrim facility is "much safer" today, she could not guarantee that further safeguarding incidents would not arise.
"Muckamore is safer now but I have also said it is not perfect. Incidents do and will still occur. But we have done is that we now have a system that is sensitive to know about it in real time. We have checks in place. CCTV is being randomly viewed every week across a whole 24-hour period in every single ward," she said.
"What I am giving is an assurance that incidents cannot perpetuate unseen - which is what did happen. Muckamore is a specialist hospital, it is very complex. Things can escalate very quickly... we need to be constantly vigilant that incidents don’t happen."
The hospital is currently at the centre of the biggest criminal adult safeguarding investigation of its kind in Northern Ireland - if not the UK - with more than 1,500 crimes relating to one ward over a six-month period between April and September 2017.
There have been seven arrests but no-one has been charged.
Following the publication of Wednesday's review, health minister Robin Swann pledged he will order an inquiry - but did not clarify if it will be a public inquiry.
The report found that the regional facility acted as a "place apart" poorly led by a management team riven with tensions, personality clashes and animosity.
It also revealed that three trust officials, who are no longer with the organisation, refused to take part in the review.
Dr Jack said that while she wasn't "directly responsible for Muckamore" or its staff, she was a member of trust's executive team back in 2014 when she was its medical director and had oversight duties.
"So I''m not going to duck that - as a corporate member of that team I share responsibility," she said.
"I think it’s a very extensive report... I welcome that because we are where we are, this has happened. It's indefensible and we need to move forward."
Families of patients are campaigning for a public inquiry and say the refusal of former officials to provide evidence to the review team strengthens the case for a judge-led inquiry.
Dr Jack said she understood the families' concerns and criticised the failure of those who didn't co-operate.
"I think the three individuals who didn’t engage does weaken the report. Certainly, if I was one of the parents I would want to hear from those individuals themselves directly," Dr Jack said.
When asked if she supported calls for a public inquiry, she replied: "At the moment, I have just got the report and the minister has just got it. As chief executive it would be inappropriate for me to actually pre-empt what he is going to say. You have my absolute assurance that whatever the inquiry - and I welcome a further inquiry whatever it is - we will fully co-operate and engage with it.
"Indeed, every single member of the trust that is currently working here all engaged."
