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Allegations of Abuse
in Institutions |
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The Government is considering
compensation for nearly 500 former patients in mental health institutions
after a damning report detailing physical, mental and sexual abuse during
their confinement. The report of a confidential forum
for former patients of Some former patients have already
started civil proceedings against the Crown, but forum chairman Judge Patrick
Mahoney said yesterday that most simply wanted an apology from the Crown for
experiences "that were deeply humiliating and demeaning, often taking a
life-long toll". Neither an offer of compensation
nor an apology was forthcoming yesterday. The Government said it was still
weighing its response to the report. Former patients told of being held
in dirty, overcrowded and smoky hospital rooms; being subjected to physical
and sexual violence; of fear and humiliation; use of electroconvulsive
therapy (ECT); over-medication; and lack of privacy. Patients described care by staff
as "ranging from indifference and lack of respect to callous,
threatening, abusive and/or violent treatment", the forum's report says.
"Participants described a
culture of threats, verbal abuse, taunting, goading and bullying. They
described beatings and patients being dragged by their hair to seclusion
rooms," it says. Some participants alleged rape and
other sexual misconduct by staff and other patients, including forming sexual
relationships with staff, sexual taunting and sexual violation. Treatment practices at the
hospitals came in for heavy criticism in the report, including the use of
solitary confinement in dark and dirty rooms with no toilet. Some participants alleged ECT had
been used on pregnant women and without medication as a punishment. "They spoke of waiting with
others for ECT and building levels of fear as their turn approached; of
hearing the screams of others as they received ECT," the report says. Participants said their medication
was heavy, frequent and changed often, leaving them "zombies", and led
in some cases to long-term physical and psychological damage. Patients felt they were being
experimented on and were given little explanation of what they were given. The panel makes no recommendations
and does not test the evidence provided by participants, and does not
identify patients or link events with specific hospitals. But it lists 53 psychiatric units
mentioned by former patients, including Judge Mahoney said the forum was
not designed as an inquiry, to hear and evaluate evidence, or a substitute
for legal remedies such as compensation. It had operated more as a truth
commission. Health Minister Pete Hodgson said
the Government was still weighing its response to the report and whether to
issue a formal apology. Attorney-General Michael Cullen said the Government
had not ruled out compensation.
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