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Allegations of Abuse
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A Court of Appeal ruling has put a
group of former psychiatric patients one step closer to an appeal over claims
of abuse. The claims date to the 1960s and
1970s, when patients say they were physically and sexually abused at Porirua
Hospital and other institutions. The Crown Health Funding
Authority, which now runs the institutions, says it is immune from the claims
because they were not made within six months of the incidents. It wants the cases struck out.
However the latest Court of Appeal ruling says it is questionable whether the
CHFA is immune. A lawyer for the patients, Roger
Chapman, says he can now oppose the Crown's application to strike them out. Around 100 claims seeking millions
of dollars in compensation have been lodged by former patients. Radio NZ The Court of Appeal has granted a
group of former psychiatric patients leave to appeal over claims of alleged
abuse. The claims date back to the 1960s
and 70s, when patients say they were physically and sexually abused at
Wellington's Porirua Hospital and other institutions. The Crown Health Funding
Authority, which is now in charge of mental health institutions, says the
Crown is immune from such action and wants the cases struck out. But the Court of Appeal says it is
questionable whether the authority is immune, and former patients may be able
to appeal on this ground. |
