Chapter 16 — Hospitals

Physical abuse

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.

Witnesses reported 23 individuals as physically abusive, 10 of whom were named female staff members. Six (6) of the named physical abusers were identified as lay nurses and four as religious Sisters who were believed to be nurses. One religious Sister was identified by name as physically abusive by four witnesses and a female lay nurse was similarly identified by two witnesses. The other eight named female staff were the subject of single witness reports.

There were another nine accounts of abuse by unnamed religious and lay care staff, including nursing staff, and three reports of older patients physically abusing witnesses. There were three accounts of groups of care staff being abusive without an individual perpetrator being identified. Two (2) reports of unnamed abusers refer to male nursing staff and co-patients. One witness reported being physically abused by the husband of a lay care worker to whom he had been sent to work from the hospital. It is possible that there is some overlap between those named and not named as abusers.

Sexual abuse

The use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person or another person.4 Witness reports of sexual abuse given in evidence to the Committee referred to both contact and non-contact abuse, with the majority referring to contact sexual abuse, predominantly rape. Reports of sexual abuse from male and female witnesses in relation to hospital facilities were noteworthy as most often single or infrequent incidents.

Fourteen (14) witnesses reported being sexually abused, eight of whom reported sexual abuse as the only category of abuse experienced. A further six witnesses reported being sexually abused in combination with other forms of abuse. The 14 reports of sexual abuse refer to 12 different hospital facilities, as follows: Two (2) hospitals were each the subject of two reports, totalling four reports. Ten (10) hospitals were each the subject of single reports.

There were five reports of sexual abuse by witnesses discharged in the 1960s, and two each in relation to the 1940s, 1950s, 1970s and 1980s. There was one report in relation to the 1990s.

Witnesses described being subjected to contact sexual abuse including fondling, digital penetration and rape. Female witnesses also reported being subjected to painful internal examinations and male witnesses reported being fondled and masturbated under the pretext of medical examinations in hospital settings.

Witnesses reported that they were sexually abused in their hospital beds, in examination rooms and cubicles, doctors’ offices, bathrooms, and toilets. Incidents of sexual abuse were described as unobserved by others and generally as occurring in discrete and isolated locations.

Six (6) of the reports of sexual abuse were single incidents, including four accounts of rape or penetrative assault. The witnesses described being confronted in their beds by men they did not recognise who motioned to them to keep quiet while they digitally penetrated and/or fondled their breasts or genitals. I was awakened by this guy and he was half into the bed, he was at me down there... (genital area) ...I tried to move up in the bed and he punched me pretty hard around the body. I kept quiet then. I don’t know how long he was there...I don’t know who it was, there was no word spoken at all...distressed ...I found that the worst of all, I can see him looking at me. I thought he had a short white coat on...I couldn’t be sure...any doctor who ever came in there... (to the hospital)... had a longish coat... I was wishing I could meet him, and if I had a shotgun...

Four (4) witnesses described being inappropriately fondled and penetrated, both digitally and by objects, in situations where there was inadequate supervision. The witnesses reported being isolated by older patients who abused them. One witness reported being forced into a toilet cubicle by an older boy on three occasions where he was inappropriately fondled and anally penetrated with an object. A female witness admitted to hospital with an acute illness at six years of age reported being fondled and abused on several occasions by an older boy while another male patient kept watch. The witness reported that the ward was generally well supervised and she was well cared for by the staff. She had no family contact during her hospital admission. Another witness reported being sexually abused by fondling by an adult male patient in circumstances where the witness was not adequately supervised.

There were three male staff members identified by name as sexually abusive by witnesses, two of whom were reported to have been medical doctors, and a third was described as a hospital orderly. He ... (named doctor)... proceeded to open my trousers and pulled me pants down to me knees and started to masturbate me and ask me questions, “when did I last have sex with a girl?” ... And then he asked me to stand up and turned me around and ...witness described anal penetration....

Six (6) witnesses reported being sexually abused by unnamed male and female nursing, care and ancillary staff. As previously stated another witness reported being raped in a hospital ward as a young child by an unidentified man whom he believed was the priest who provided a pastoral service to the hospital. I had been sexually abused in that home ... (named hospital).... My memory is of somebody taking me by the hand.... I can remember the sound of the cassock that they wear whenever they are walking, I remember the swishing that it makes.... They would have been big and strong, maybe like a father figure.... He took me into a room where the curtains were pulled, there was a light shining through the curtain.... The name of the person, I wouldn’t have a clue.