SUSPENDED staff pay, agency nurses and sick leave at Muckamore Abbey Hospital have cost the health service £12 million since an abuse scandal broke three years ago.
Information obtained by The Irish News reveals the soaring cost of running the Co Antrim facility, which is at the centre of the biggest police safeguarding investigation of its kind in Northern Ireland.
Belfast health trust chiefs confirmed a further two nursing staff were suspended this month, bringing the total to 62 - more than triple the figure from last August.
The rocketing spend was branded an "enormous financial drain" by a high-profile doctor who said it strengthened calls by families for a public inquiry.
Hospital sources also say there is "panic" among top management about staffing cover due to continuing suspensions - resulting in them spending more than £90,000 a week on agency nurses.
A breakdown of the bill from September 2017, when allegations of physical abuse and mental cruelty of vulnerable patients first emerged, to last month reveals £7.3m was paid to agency staff while sick pay was £3.3m.
Hourly rates of up to £41.90 were charged by agencies to provide nursing cover at the regional hospital for adults with severe learning disabilities. Some staff nurses earn less than £10 an hour.
Freedom of Information requests also revealed £1.5m has been spent on wages for suspended staff, who remain on full pay as the internal trust probe continues.
Costs are set to rise dramatically over the next financial year - with £1.7m spent on agency nurses and £740,000 paid to suspended staff over the past four months alone.
Dr Gabriel Scally, who offered to head an independent probe following his previous experience overseeing an inquiry into a cervical cancer controversy in the Republic - his offer was declined by the Department of Health - said Stormont needed to act.
"This has been a very protracted and deeply unsatisfactory episode. It is clearly not just causing damage to relatives who are really concerned to find out what happened to their loved ones in Muckamore - but added to it is the enormous financial drain this scandal is having on the health service when there are plenty of other things that money is needed for," he said.
"It all speaks to the increasing speed with which this must be dealt with because it has been too slow. The families must be listened to and there must be an inquiry about what went on.
"The delay just adds to the whole overall feel of incompetence, inaction and inhumanity."
The top medic also slated the failure of three senior hospital bosses to cooperate with a damning governance review published earlier this month which exposed institutional abuse and a "dysfunctional" management team who "missed" an opportunity to prevent further abuse.
Former Belfast trust chief executive, Dr Michael McBride, who is also the north's chief medical officer, was unable to in take part in the review due to pandemic related work pressures.
Dr Scally added: "There must be an inquiry about what went on, particularly since very senior figures have been unwilling or unable to engage with this issue.
"I think when you have people refusing to participate then you do need legal compulsion. It has to be an inquiry where whoever is conducting the inquiry has the power to summon witnesses."
To date, the police probe has led to seven arrests but no prosecutions. A total of 1,500 suspected crimes have been uncovered in one Muckamore ward alone by a specialist team of detectives. The offences were captured on CCTV and relate to a six-month period between April and September 2017. Staff did not know the cameras were recording.
Dundonald man Glynn Brown, who first raised the alarm in August 2017 after learning his non-verbal son Aaron was allegedly assaulted while being cared for in the hospital's Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit, said he was "stunned" by the costs.
"This is an astronomical amount of money. If there was proper governance and oversight we wouldn’t be here," he said.
"When you add it all up and look to next year, the bill will be going into multi-millions, not including the police investigation - never mind future prosecutions. This will be going into £40 to £50m by the time this is over.
"The investigation has had a terrible impact on the patients and families. We need a judge-led inquiry now."
Following the publication of the devastating 'governance and leadership' review, health minister Robin Swann pledged to order an inquiry - but did not state if it would take the form of a public inquiry.
The Irish News asked the Belfast health trust to comment on the spiralling bill and if the organisation's ability to carry internal disciplinary action was dependent on the police probe.
In a statement, a trust spokesman said it is continuing to "fully co-operate with the PSNI in respect of the investigation" and "liaising closely with them in relation to the timing of its internal procedures".
He added: "We recognise that agency staff costs are high. However, our primary aim is to ensure that we maintain safe staffing levels at Muckamore Abbey Hospital at all times."
