TRUST APOLOGISES AFTER BOMB QUESTIONNAIRE IS SENT TO ONE OF THE DEAD
Trust apologies after bomb questionnaire is sent out to one of the dead
THE SPERRIN Lakeland Trust has apologised for sending a questionnaire about the Omagh bombing to one of the deceased.
Forms were sent to around 40,000 people, and among the questions were: 'Did you see horrible things such as severely disfigured people or limbs lying on the street?' and 'Did you think you were going to die?'.
Last week, one such letter was sent to Mrs Libby Rush, who was killed on August 15. Her husband, Laurence, has branded the incident as "shameful".
Mr Hugh Mills, chief executive of the Trust, held a meeting with the bereaved relatives on Tuesday morning, during which he apologised to Mr Rush for the blunder and said the Trust was sorry for any distress caused to families who received the questionnaire.
Speaking at a press conference in the Tyrone County Hospital later, he expressed his regret again and explained how the mistake had occurred.
Following a complaint from Mr Rush, an investigation revealed that the address used by the Trust to communicate information to the Rush family differs from that held on the electoral register.
"I would like to state on behalf of the Trust our complete devastation that the late Mrs Rush received a questionnaire in relation to the community study," Mr Mills said.
"We conveyed to the group distributing the questionnaires the names of all those deceased in the Omagh bombing so they could be removed, but Mrs Rush's name was on the electoral register under a different way."
Mr Mills admitted the Trust would have preferred to remove the bereaved families from the mailing list, but was advised that this would have contravened the Data Protection Act - the legislation which provides safeguards for individuals relating to personal information stored on a computer.
Confidentiality
"It would have been our preference that the questionnaire wouldn't have been distributed to the bereaved. But if we had given a further list of names of all the injured or relatives we would have been passing information to a third party, which would have been a breach of confidentiality," he said.
Mr Mills said these measures were taken to ensure the independence of the survey, which is being carried out by the Trust in association with Oxford University and NCS Services UK Limited, a data-handling association, at a cost of �30.000.
Mr Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh Support and Self-Help Group, who lost his 21 year old son in the bomb, said the bereaved families had been plagued by red tape.
"When all the powerful politicians came to Omagh in the aftermath of the bomb they said 'the book' would go out the window because Omagh was a special case. But we are still victims of legislation on this issue, the compensation issue and other issues. Whatever road we go down we seem to hit a roadblock of legislation," Mr Gallagher said.
He said it was "very unfortunate and very sad" that Mr Rush had received a letter addressed to his late wife.
"To get a letter in the post asking details of how you were affected by the bomb is a traumatic experience in itself, but what happened to Laurence was an unbelievable tragedy," Mr Gallagher said.
"Under no circumstances would it have been deliberate, but it is very regrettable," he added.
At Tuesday's meeting, the group requested that the questionnaires should not be sent to the other bereaved families, but were told that this was impossible for legal reasons.
Mr Gallagher questioned the wisdom of sending forms to bereaved families whose experiences had already been well documented.
Inappropriate
And he said it was inappropriate that the forms should arrive by post.
"There must be a better way rather than dropping it through the door. It is regrettable that there couldn't be some kind of personal approach to the bereaved families."
But Mr Mills said the Trust had issued a press release and flyers and sent bulletins directly to the bereaved and injured prior to the arrival of the questionnaire.
He said the Trust had discussed the survey with the bereaved, although he admitted they had not been privy to the details of the questions.
Some of the relatives have taken issue with the phrasing of the questions, which they regard as insensitive.
Mr Stanley McCombe, vice-chairman of the Self-Help and Support Group, whose wife Ann died in the bomb, said he had been inundated with phone calls and visits from upset families.
"We are all trying to get back into society and something like this comes along and upsets us again. These gruesome questions are like an open-air inquest on the good people who were murdered and injured in Omagh," he said.
Those who respond are asked to tick boxes to indicate whether or not they agree with the statements such as: 'I feel dead inside', My life has been destroyed by the bombing' and 'I will never be able to feel normal emotions again'.
And they are asked to categorise their level of trauma by selecting one of five emotional responses ranging from 'not at all' to 'extremely' distressed.
There are also personal questions on whether or not the bomb has interfered with the victim's sex life and "overall levels of functioning".
Necessary
Mr Mills' colleague, Dr Kate Gillespie, a consultant psychiatrist and member of the research group involved in conducting the study, insisted that this line of questioning was necessary to achieve information about the wider impact of the atrocity.
At the press conference on Tuesday, Dr Gillespie revealed that the questions had been vetted and approved "several times".
Mr Mills added: "While we regret the fact that the questions caused disturbance to the bereaved, it is important to obtain information from everyone involved. We have apologised for any distress we have caused."
Both Mr Mills and Dr Gillespie insisted that the study remained valid because it had already encouraged a number of people who had not yet sought help to approach the Trust.
"The longer people go on without seeking help the more chronic the problem can become. Each question in the questionnaire is addressing a specific experience people have post-trauma," Dr Gillespie said.
"Some people will be upset, but it will help others to realise that they are not abnormal. Most importantly, it gives people who have not yet done so the opportunity to access help," she added.
The area's MP, Mr William Thompson, has issued a statement supporting the bereaved relatives. Describing the blunder as "extremely unfortunate", he said:
"The relatives have now been further distressed and traumatised by this unfortunate omission and the least the Trust can now do is to give an individual apology to each of them."
THE SPERRIN Lakeland Trust has apologised for sending a questionnaire about the Omagh bombing to one of the deceased.
Forms were sent to around 40,000 people, and among the questions were: 'Did you see horrible things such as severely disfigured people or limbs lying on the street?' and 'Did you think you were going to die?'.
Last week, one such letter was sent to Mrs Libby Rush, who was killed on August 15. Her husband, Laurence, has branded the incident as "shameful".
Mr Hugh Mills, chief executive of the Trust, held a meeting with the bereaved relatives on Tuesday morning, during which he apologised to Mr Rush for the blunder and said the Trust was sorry for any distress caused to families who received the questionnaire.
Speaking at a press conference in the Tyrone County Hospital later, he expressed his regret again and explained how the mistake had occurred.
Following a complaint from Mr Rush, an investigation revealed that the address used by the Trust to communicate information to the Rush family differs from that held on the electoral register.
"I would like to state on behalf of the Trust our complete devastation that the late Mrs Rush received a questionnaire in relation to the community study," Mr Mills said.
"We conveyed to the group distributing the questionnaires the names of all those deceased in the Omagh bombing so they could be removed, but Mrs Rush's name was on the electoral register under a different way."
Mr Mills admitted the Trust would have preferred to remove the bereaved families from the mailing list, but was advised that this would have contravened the Data Protection Act - the legislation which provides safeguards for individuals relating to personal information stored on a computer.
Confidentiality
"It would have been our preference that the questionnaire wouldn't have been distributed to the bereaved. But if we had given a further list of names of all the injured or relatives we would have been passing information to a third party, which would have been a breach of confidentiality," he said.
Mr Mills said these measures were taken to ensure the independence of the survey, which is being carried out by the Trust in association with Oxford University and NCS Services UK Limited, a data-handling association, at a cost of �30.000.
Mr Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh Support and Self-Help Group, who lost his 21 year old son in the bomb, said the bereaved families had been plagued by red tape.
"When all the powerful politicians came to Omagh in the aftermath of the bomb they said 'the book' would go out the window because Omagh was a special case. But we are still victims of legislation on this issue, the compensation issue and other issues. Whatever road we go down we seem to hit a roadblock of legislation," Mr Gallagher said.
He said it was "very unfortunate and very sad" that Mr Rush had received a letter addressed to his late wife.
"To get a letter in the post asking details of how you were affected by the bomb is a traumatic experience in itself, but what happened to Laurence was an unbelievable tragedy," Mr Gallagher said.
"Under no circumstances would it have been deliberate, but it is very regrettable," he added.
At Tuesday's meeting, the group requested that the questionnaires should not be sent to the other bereaved families, but were told that this was impossible for legal reasons.
Mr Gallagher questioned the wisdom of sending forms to bereaved families whose experiences had already been well documented.
Inappropriate
And he said it was inappropriate that the forms should arrive by post.
"There must be a better way rather than dropping it through the door. It is regrettable that there couldn't be some kind of personal approach to the bereaved families."
But Mr Mills said the Trust had issued a press release and flyers and sent bulletins directly to the bereaved and injured prior to the arrival of the questionnaire.
He said the Trust had discussed the survey with the bereaved, although he admitted they had not been privy to the details of the questions.
Some of the relatives have taken issue with the phrasing of the questions, which they regard as insensitive.
Mr Stanley McCombe, vice-chairman of the Self-Help and Support Group, whose wife Ann died in the bomb, said he had been inundated with phone calls and visits from upset families.
"We are all trying to get back into society and something like this comes along and upsets us again. These gruesome questions are like an open-air inquest on the good people who were murdered and injured in Omagh," he said.
Those who respond are asked to tick boxes to indicate whether or not they agree with the statements such as: 'I feel dead inside', My life has been destroyed by the bombing' and 'I will never be able to feel normal emotions again'.
And they are asked to categorise their level of trauma by selecting one of five emotional responses ranging from 'not at all' to 'extremely' distressed.
There are also personal questions on whether or not the bomb has interfered with the victim's sex life and "overall levels of functioning".
Necessary
Mr Mills' colleague, Dr Kate Gillespie, a consultant psychiatrist and member of the research group involved in conducting the study, insisted that this line of questioning was necessary to achieve information about the wider impact of the atrocity.
At the press conference on Tuesday, Dr Gillespie revealed that the questions had been vetted and approved "several times".
Mr Mills added: "While we regret the fact that the questions caused disturbance to the bereaved, it is important to obtain information from everyone involved. We have apologised for any distress we have caused."
Both Mr Mills and Dr Gillespie insisted that the study remained valid because it had already encouraged a number of people who had not yet sought help to approach the Trust.
"The longer people go on without seeking help the more chronic the problem can become. Each question in the questionnaire is addressing a specific experience people have post-trauma," Dr Gillespie said.
"Some people will be upset, but it will help others to realise that they are not abnormal. Most importantly, it gives people who have not yet done so the opportunity to access help," she added.
The area's MP, Mr William Thompson, has issued a statement supporting the bereaved relatives. Describing the blunder as "extremely unfortunate", he said:
"The relatives have now been further distressed and traumatised by this unfortunate omission and the least the Trust can now do is to give an individual apology to each of them."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1336
Published Date: 25-Mar-99
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