Northern Ireland's South-Eastern Health Trust has apologised after a care assistant admitted abusing a 70-year-old woman with Alzheimer's Disease.

The family of Ivy McCluskey, who were worried about her dwindling weight, secretly recorded Patricia Young eating food meant for her patient.

Mrs McCluskey died 12 weeks after Young stopped caring for her.

The 54-year-old of Mandeville Avenue in Lisburn, who has admitted two counts of abuse, will be sentenced next month.

The secretly recorded footage has been obtained by BBC Radio Ulster's Stephen Nolan Show.

Mrs McCluskey's daughters have described how their mother rapidly lost weight in the weeks before her death.

"We were really baffled. Mummy was declinling, losing all this weight, but we did not know why," Mandy said.

AdvertisementMrs McCluskey's daughters have described how their mother rapidly lost weight

"At night, when she was put down to bed, her belly was rumbling. She was actually starving with hunger."

Diane said she was feeling "an awful amount of guilt" about what happened to her mother.

"Even though you have the carers in there to take the pressure off, then you're feeling we should have done it all ourselves and then we wouldn't have to live with this."

The South-Eastern Trust has said it is sorry for the unacceptable standard of care received by Mrs McCluskey.

A spokesperson added that as soon as they became aware of problems, they took immediate steps to ensure Mrs McCluskey's safety.