Chapter 16 — Hospitals

Record of abuse

Sixteen (16) witnesses reported that abuse was a regular occurrence and was most frequently reported as a combination of abuse types, as outlined in Table 93:

Abuse types and combinations	Number of reports
Physical, neglect and emotional	9
Sexual	8
Physical and neglect	4
Physical, sexual, neglect and emotional	3
Physical and emotional	3
Neglect and emotional	2
Physical, sexual and emotional	1
Physical and sexual	1
Physical	1
Sexual and neglect	1
Total	33

Twenty four (24) reports were of combinations of abuse, 21 of which included physical abuse. The most frequently reported combination of abuse was physical and emotional abuse and neglect, reported by nine witnesses. It is notable that eight reports were of sexual abuse alone. In those eight instances witnesses described their experience of being sexually abused as isolated events in the course of their hospital admission.

Fourteen (14) of the 18 hospital facilities reported to the Committee were each the subject of single reports. The other four hospitals were each the subject of between two and seven reports, totalling 19 reports.

Physical abuse

The wilful, reckless or negligent infliction of physical injury on, or failure to prevent such injury to, the child.3 Reports of physical abuse included descriptions of incidents of physical abuse, non-accidental injury and lack of protection from such abuse. Accounts were heard of witnesses being hit, beaten with implements, and kicked. Accounts were also heard of witnesses being immersed in water, physically restrained and isolated.

There were 22 reports of physical abuse by 19 witnesses in relation to 10 hospital facilities, as follows: Four (4) hospital facilities were each the subject of two to four reports, totalling 16 reports. Six (6) hospital facilities were the subject of single reports.

Nine (9) reports related to witnesses discharged in the 1950s and five related to witnesses discharged in the 1970s. The remaining eight reports were related to discharges in the 1940s, 1960s and 1990s, in diminishing frequency.

The most frequently reported form of physical abuse was being hit as punishment for perceived misdemeanours, examples of which included bed-wetting, talking, crying, and not knowing the answers to a question. Witnesses reported that physical abuse was also precipitated by refusing to demonstrate functional abilities for visiting experts and medical consultants, not eating the food provided, and not following staff instructions.

Witnesses reported that they were hit with sticks, canes, straps, scissors, hair and hand brushes. Witnesses also reported having their hair pulled, being punched, kicked, immersed in cold water and being subjected to painful treatment procedures with little care or consideration. They reported being force fed, left lying in wet beds or on bedpans for lengthy periods, and being made to kneel on the floor or stand with their arms raised for extended periods of time. I would have been about 9 or 10, there was this ...named female nurse... and she used to go around with this plastic ...implement... hitting children for stupid things, such as not standing in a queue, not going to school, not being on time. You might be at physio ... (physiotherapy)... and not be able to get to your classroom on time.... She hit ... across the hand, across the head, across the back of the legs. Everybody would know about it. I seen children with marks on the backs of the legs, blood and everything. She was really evil. I got a belt one day with her hand and with her...implement.... I retaliated once. I hit her in the chest with my head and got a real walloping off the staff then.... The staff did not care what way you were treated....

Witnesses described being physically abused in their hospital beds, on the wards, in bathrooms, dining rooms, classrooms, treatment and consulting rooms, and other areas within the hospital environment.

The majority of witnesses who reported abuse in this section were bed-bound either because of the traditional practice of a hospital ward where patients were kept in bed, or because of the nature of their disability or illness. Immobile patients were described as especially vulnerable and dependant. Several witnesses reported being subjected to painful treatments and interventions while they were unable to move. A witness described having partially healed cold sores pulled repeatedly from her lips while she was restrained in bed. Another witness reported that the Sister in charge dropped him to the ground as a punishment: I remember one morning ... I was about 5 and I was sat up in the bed ... and I heard a voice behind and there’s a very tall nun looking down on me and she’s not pleased, I can tell by her face. She said I’d offended God, she called me a cripple. I remember it’s the first time I was ever called a cripple. ... She said before I was fit to meet him ... (God)... again, I’d have to be broken and she just picked me up out of the bed and she threw me down onto the ground ...distressed.... She’d just kick the shit out of me, picked me up and punched and beat me. That was not the first time ... (to be beaten)..., but it was the first time I was conscious that this is serious. ... After that I kept very, very quiet ... invisible ... where you think if you don’t speak you’re not going to get beaten, if you’re quiet there’s no excuse to beat you.

Other witnesses who were subjected to routine and painful physical interventions including injections, joint manipulation and surgery, reported being punished if they resisted or objected to the treatments. Being unable to move independently created particular difficulties in these circumstances. I couldn’t run away, but I could hide under the bed in the corner, where they couldn’t get at me. They used to have to beat me out with a stick. • In all the time there I never remember getting a painkiller, the nuns used have this thing about pain where they’d believe you could be redeemed through pain. ... I remember a lot of pain, you didn’t complain because you knew you weren’t going to get anything for it, you’d grin and bear it, that’s the way it was.

Witnesses who were physically disabled or who had restricted mobility described being roughly treated by staff, causing injury in two instances. One witness described a member of the hospital care staff throwing her from one bed onto another in anger, which resulted in her falling and cutting her head. Another witness reported that a staff member pushed a trolley at her that knocked her over and caused an injury to her head that required medical attention. On both occasions the incidents were reported to staff in authority as ‘accidents’ within hearing of the witnesses.

Witnesses reported being punished for bed-wetting by having wet sheets draped over their heads, being left lying in wet sheets for long periods, and left sitting on bedpans, they believed, to avoid having to change wet or soiled sheets. Two (2) witnesses reported being forced to kneel or sit partially clothed against a wall with their arms extended ‘for hours’ as a punishment for bed-wetting. Another witness reported being smacked on his bared bottom in front of adult male patients on the ward where he was the only child. All the kids were frightened of calling on the nurses...we were not allowed out of bed on our own, we couldn’t put a foot out of bed...there were terrible punishments, if you wee’d ... (urinated)... the bed, they made you remove the jacket of your pyjamas and they made you kneel against this wall, supplicate against this white clinical wall with your arms in the air until they decided it was time to go back to bed. If you defecated you lost your top and bottom and you’d be naked, kneeling against this wall ... with your hands above your head.

Five (5) witnesses reported being physically restrained by staff. Two (2) of those witnesses described being forcibly medicated while restrained and another witness described being tied to the rail of the hospital bed to curtail any movement. The other three witnesses reported being locked in cupboards or confined spaces overnight. Witnesses reported being restrained in these ways for reasons such as refusing to co-operate with a treatment procedure, for retaliating to a physical assault by staff or for indiscipline.

Three (3) witnesses reported being physically abused and beaten by older co-patients whom staff entrusted with the task of ‘minding’ younger patients on the ward in their absence. Witnesses stated that the older patients regarded this as an opportunity to hit them without fear of reproach. One witness reported being ‘terrorised’ by an older patient whom he believed the staff were unable to control on the ward and at times had to restrain. The same witness reported being abused and threatened by another co-patient in the absence of adequate supervision.