Allegations of Abuse in Institutions
	Psychiatric Hospitals Index Jan-June 2004 Index
	Nelson Mail June 18 2004 Abuse complaints mount against psychiatric hospital by Sheriee Smith Four more former patients of Ngawhatu psychiatric hospital have lodged formal complaints of alleged abuse at the institution - including claims of experimentation on patients. Almost 200 complaints have been made by people who allege they were abused in mental health hospitals around New Zealand during the 1960s and 1970s. Wellington lawyer Roger Chapman said a "steady number" of complaints about Ngawhatu were now coming forward, including one from a man whose wife was a patient in the 1950s and another from a former nurse aide. The Stoke hospital closed in 2000-2001 with its residents resettled into the Nelson community. The former patients who have laid complaints claim they were victims of sexual and physical abuse by staff members and were given electric shock therapy as punishment. Mr Chapman said the nurse aide had alleged experimentation in electric shock therapy was carried out on patients - sometimes several times a day - during her time working there. The woman, whose sister had been a patient at the hospital, had also told of how she saw and heard several incidents at Ngawhatu. "We do not have all the details yet," Mr Chapman said. "She is certainly saying that there was a certain amount of experimentation on patients, giving them substantial amounts of electric shock therapy. There is also talk of some patients being given an electrical leucotomy. We are still getting details about that but it doesn't sound great." A leucotomy is a surgical operation on the front lobes of the brain to treat severe psychiatric illness. Mr Chapman said the woman had a medical journal and further information about treatments at the hospital which were to be given to his office for further investigation. Nearly 70 of the nationwide claims have been filed in the High Court, each seeking compensation of up to $500,000 and exemplary damages approaching $50,000. It was reported at the weekend that the claims of mistreatment of patients that were previously confined to the former Porirua and Lake Alice asylums, encompass most of the closed mental hospitals from Auckland to Otago. The allegations include sexual assaults and beatings by staff and patients, use of electric shock therapy and drug injections as punishment, being over-sedated and being locked in solitary confinement for long periods. Prime Minister Helen Clark has said the Government is taking the allegations seriously