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СпутникиРНSpaceXРоскосмосNASAIndependent investigation of Rathfarnham hospital found patients were sworn at and threatened
The Health Service Executive has “enhanced” its support and oversight of a south Dublin mental health hospital after an independent investigation report on mistreatment of patients at the facility was published by The Irish Times.
Late last year, an external report on a whistleblower’s claims found some residents at Bloomfield Hospital in Rathfarnham were left soiled for an “unacceptable period”, had been “slapped” on the leg, sworn at and threatened with an injection to improve co-operation with staff.
There were 11 trust-in-care reports relating to 17 patients in July 2025, and the hospital, which is owned by the Quakers in Ireland, took immediate action – including internal and external reviews and disciplinary proceedings – upon receipt of the allegations.
However, the hospital did not inform the HSE, the Department of Health, the regulator or the Minister for Health of the concerns until the report was being published by The Irish Times.
Brian Higgins, assistant national director at HSE adult mental health services, said that on the night the articles were published the HSE began a “formal support process which has remained in place fortnightly since”.
Senior HSE officials and senior hospital management continue to attend these “assurance meetings”, with board members of the hospital attending on a “less regular basis”.
“This collective HSE approach has led to the development of a structured and proactive approach which has been put in place to ensure patient safety and regulatory compliance,” he said in response to a parliamentary question from Social Democrats mental health spokesman Liam Quaide.
According to Higgins, the HSE “formally” put an enhanced support structure in place in late May to provide “clear governance and assurance”.
Bloomfield retains decision-making authority, he said, but there is “high-intensity oversight” and “advisory input” by the HSE.
“As part of this oversight, a senior HSE official has been facilitated to attend on site once a week to support the team in Bloomfield and have in-person insight to the ongoing quality improvement work at the hospital,” he said.
In December 2025, Bloomfield Hospital voluntarily closed to admissions; this was subsequently formalised by the Mental Health Commission in April as a condition of registration. No admissions have occurred since last year.
At the end of February, the HSE began an inspection and review of the hospital.
“This review was carried out by a team of authorised experts appointed by the HSE, two of whom are external to the HSE and one safeguarding expert from within the HSE,” Higgins said.
“A draft copy of the review was presented to HSE Dublin Midlands and the national office for mental health for review in early July and a final draft is expected in August. The purpose of the report is to identify and understand issues in Bloomfield Hospital and to support rectification of the issues by Bloomfield.”
However, Higgins said the report was not due for external publication, a decision that has been criticised by Quaide.
“The decision to withhold this report from public scrutiny reflects the very worst cultural legacy of the HSE: institutional self-protection, secrecy and a reflex to control information when serious failures are exposed,” he said.
“Bloomfield received a 94 per cent compliance rating from the Mental Health Commission only months before serious mistreatment of residents came to light. It is extraordinary that the HSE is now invoking the commission’s own judgment support framework to investigate what went wrong – and then refusing to publish the result.”