MANY years ago, when I was a student, I went to see One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The film left an indelible print on my brain – it is unforgettable.

A psychiatric hospital where patients are treated as deviants, to be medicated and controlled.

Staff are sadistic, thriving in an oppressive institution that stresses conformity. One that strips away dignity and agency.

There is no room for individuality, everyone is dehumanised. Medications and treatments are used for social control, to pacify rather than alleviate pain and distress.

Brónagh Diamond: Something in me softened at the Clonard Novena – and I saw the future of the Catholic Church

Noel Doran: Brexit was Nigel Farage’s triumph — and unionism’s disaster

Rigid structures force compliance and vulnerable people are shamed into accepting their powerlessness. It is brutal, disturbing and heartbreaking.

But it was set in the 1960s and it is fiction, so thankfully we don’t really need to dwell on this anymore.

This type of behaviour and culture would never be tolerated today – we are so much more informed, empathetic, we use terms such as patient-centred care, trauma-informed responses, human rights and respect.

We have an open, responsive healthcare system which treats people as individuals and prioritises rights and dignity. Gone are the days of fear, neglect, coercion.

Really? Tell this to the Muckamore Abbey families.

Last week the long-awaited report of an inquiry into the treatment of vulnerable adults at the hospital........

© The Irish News