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Allegations of Abuse
in Institutions |
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Hundreds of former mental health
patients are suing the Government for millions of dollars over their
treatment in The first trials will begin in
October. But Roger Chapman, one of the
lawyers representing the 230-strong group, believes the former patients
should not have to go through the court system. "It's horrifying that these
people have to go to court and go through it again," he said. Mr Chapman proposed an alternative
forum in 2004 for hearing complaints and awarding compensation, but this was
rejected by the Government. However, in response to a damning
report detailing abuse endured by former mental health patients, the Government
said it was seeking a robust alternative to the adversarial court system to
address complaints. Health Minister Pete Hodgson said
litigation through the courts would be immensely costly for the crown and
litigants. "It's heartening that Pete
Hodgson is at last considering the possibility of dealing with this,"
said Mr Chapman. "I just hope he doesn't take very long about it." Mr Hodgson says a decision is not
likely until October. Mr Chapman was wary of suggestions
the Government could offer compensation and a formal apology. "We've been there before and
found it was a blind alley. I'm not discounting it, but I'm not getting
excited about it," he said. Mr Chapman said the sums sought by
each of the 230 complainants varied significantly. "Some are quite small amounts
and others are quite substantial. They would probably add up to quite a few
million," he said. Many former patients wanted to
hear the Government say "This should not have happened and we are sorry
about it", he said. Compensation was important for
some because they had had their lives wrecked. "They don't expect to get
enormous sums of money. It's a way of the Government saying `We really mean
what we say'," Mr Chapman said. There were still several other
claims being considered and he believed there were some intellectually
disabled people who suffered in the institutions who had not come forward. The report from the confidential
forum for former patients details the experiences of 493 people held in
institutions from Former patients told of being
subjected to physical and sexual violence, being held in overcrowded, dirty
and smoky hospital rooms, and of electroconvulsive therapy, lack of privacy
and over-medication. Mr Chapman said one of the
valuable things in the report was that former staff members had confirmed
what the patients had been saying.
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