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Allegations of Abuse
in Institutions |
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Publicity over abuse at Porirua
and other psychiatric hospitals has led to the number of claimants rising to
more than 300 since legal action was first revealed two years ago. Wellington lawyer Sonja Cooper,
one of those spearheading the joint action against the Crown, says of those
at least 200 are claiming physical, emotional or sexual abuse at Porirua
during the 1960s and 1970s. So far 65 claims have been filed
in the High Court. Many claimants say they were
subjected to bouts of electro- convulsive therapy (ECT) as punishment, the
treatments often being administered without anaesthetic. Other claims include
that patients were physically tortured, over- medicated and sexually abused. Attorney-General Margaret Wilson
said the claims were being investigated. Once that process was finished, a
decision would be made on further action, which could include a test case or
a Government- sanctioned inquiry. "I am keen that this matter
is not unduly delayed, but that at the same time, due process is followed in
what is an enormously complicated case. "A lot of work has to be done
tracing and checking files and facts several decades old. However, the Crown
will only make payments when legal liability can be established. The
determination of legal liability is a matter for the courts." Former staff had at first been
reluctant to come forward but over recent weeks a number have spoken out and
confirmed much of what former patients have said. Former social worker Eva Naylor
spent about 18 months working at Porirua Hospital in 1963 and 1964. She
described the atmosphere there as "just terrible". "They (the doctors) never
bothered to speak to patients and find out what was troubling them or why
they were there. They were just treated like non-entities. We came across
patients who were just kept there, locked away." Management were very concerned
with protecting the hospital's reputation and projecting a good image to
those outside. She recalled a case of a pregnant
patient, on trial leave from the hospital, who doctors wanted discharged from
the hospital's care because they were afraid that when she gave birth she
would harm the baby. They did not want the bad headlines if she did, Naylor
said. Naylor resigned from her job at
the hospital soon after she expressed concern that a 12-year-old boy, being
kept in an adult ward, was being sexually abused by another patient. She never found out if anything
was done for the boy. She also believed many of the
medical staff were not qualified in psychiatry. Very little therapy was given to
patients. Most were just handed drugs to keep them quiet or they were given
doses of ECT. "It was an easy thing to do,
they lost their memory and it kept them quiet." One man, she recalls, admitted
himself suffering from depression over problems he was having after a
relationship break-up. When spoken to by a doctor the man disclosed he was
homosexual. The extent of his treatment, she said, was an exclamation from the doctor: "My God man. Don't you know that's illegal?" |
