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Allegations of Abuse
in Institutions |
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The findings of an inquiry into
the country's psychiatric institutions have been released today. The confidential forum heard from
around 500 former patients and their families over almost two years who were
institutionalised before the Mental Health Act was changed in 1992 Former patients talked of being
scarred for life, having been forced to sleep in large dormitories with beds
close together and spending days locked in dirty, noisy, smoke filled day
rooms infested with cockroaches and rats. They report having no doors on
toilets and being forced to line up naked to be hosed down before showering,
or taking a bath in cold water already used by others. The forum was headed by Judge
Patrick Mahoney, who emphasised patient suffering. Judge Mahoney said
patients spoke of physical violence among patients and on occasion inflicted
by staff, including instances of sexual abuse. The Government is now considering
how to apologise and possibility compensate those affected
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