Chapter 16 — Hospitals

Witnesses

Four (4) witnesses reported being admitted to hospitals at birth or in early infancy as a result of their physical disabilities and that they remained in residential facilities for the duration of their childhood and adolescence. Other witnesses reported that, as a result of their disability, they were unable to attend their local primary school when they reached school-going age, and were instead admitted to residential facilities.

The length of time the 31 witnesses reported being in out-of-home care varied between five days and 18 years. Fifteen (15) of the 31 witnesses reported spending five years or less in hospital for treatment of their particular illness or disability. Table 91 illustrates the range of time witnesses reported being hospitalised and in out-of-home care:

Length of stay in care	Males	Females	Total witnesses
<1 year	4	4	8
2–5 years	3	4	7
6–10 years	3	5	8
10+ years	7	1	8
Total	17	14	31

The average length of stay reported by witnesses in the hospital facilities was seven years for male witnesses and four and a half years for female witnesses. Eight (8) witnesses reported being abused during admissions of less than one year. There was a marked difference in both the average length of stay and type of abuse reported by male and female witnesses. A higher proportion of female witnesses reported abuse during brief hospital admissions and more male witnesses reported being abused in the course of lengthy admissions. These differences were reflected in the ages at which witnesses reported being discharged from out-of-home care, as shown below:

Age when discharged	Males	Females	Total witnesses
<7 years	0	3	3
8–10 years	3	6	9
11–15 years	6	2	8
16+ years	8	3	11
Total	17	14	31

Record of abuse

As already stated, 31 witnesses, 17 male and 14 female, made 33 reports of abuse in relation to 18 institutions referred to as hospitals. One witness reported being abused in three different hospitals in the course of consecutive admissions. The 33 reports covered a 56-year period and included all types of abuse defined by the Acts, specifically physical and sexual abuse, neglect and emotional abuse.2 A report of abuse made by a witness may either refer to a description of a single episode or to multiple experiences of being abused. In most, but not all, instances reports of abuse in hospitals refer to more than one episode of abuse and more than one type of abuse.

All four abuse types were reported with similar frequency as detailed below: Nineteen (19) witnesses reported physical abuse. Sixteen (16) witnesses reported neglect. Fifteen (15) witnesses reported emotional abuse. Fourteen (14) witnesses reported sexual 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.