Chapter 16 — Hospitals

Emotional abuse

Tensions between staff members were described as, at times, influencing how patients were treated. A witness reported overhearing an argument about her admission to the ward. She was aware that certain staff objected to her admission and she believed she was treated harshly as a result. Other witnesses reported overhearing staff discussing their personal attributes and medical conditions as if they were not there, without any direct discussion with the witnesses themselves. They used have a discussion when they were bathing me, on my head, the size of me head and I remember them saying “this one has a very small head, I wonder will she be alright”. I remember thinking “what am I going to do about my small head?”...

Many witnesses were admitted to hospitals that were located long distances from their family home, and as a result family contact was unavoidably disrupted. Those who had lengthy admissions frequently reported feeling alienated from their family as a result. I was in ...X... hospital from birth. I was born with a disability called ...named condition.... I spent all my life in and out of institutions. ... I had a lot of operations, I was going for experimentation because they didn’t know a lot about it ... (named condition).... I was very little at home, they sent me home once for a holiday but I had to come back because I didn’t know what home was. My mother would visit about once a fortnight, but I knew very little about brothers or sisters.

Limited access to transport and telephones at the time contributed to the witnesses’ sense of isolation. The hospitals’ rules regarding visiting arrangements were described as an additional deterrent to family contact in these circumstances.

One witness described her mother regularly making a long journey by bus to visit her and on each occasion being obliged to wait outside for several hours after the official visiting time was over, until the return bus arrived. On one occasion when the witness’s mother could not visit, her sisters made the journey instead. They were not allowed to visit the witness and had to wait outside the hospital until their transport arrived at the end of the day. Another witness described her parents waving to her through a window when they arrived outside the regular visiting hours and were denied admission to see her.

Eight (8) witnesses reported that their lengthy admissions to hospitals or county homes were in the context of social or family difficulties, combined in most instances with specific health problems. I hope to God that anyone, ... never has to go to a place like that anymore ... you see you don’t know what places are like when you don’t know nothing about them, when you are just landed in and they ...(family members)... say “I have to leave you here now and I’ll be up ...(to visit)... and I’ll write and I’ll ring you and see what happens”, and there’s me left sitting there thinking “what’s next?”

Marital separation, illness and family disharmony were described as factors that contributed to a number of protracted hospital admissions. Six (6) of the witnesses reported having little or no subsequent contact with their parents or other family members. They reported that staff told them that they were in hospital because they were not wanted or because their parents could not look after them.

Letters, food parcels and presents from family members were reported to have been periodically retained by staff in some hospitals. A witness reported that food and toys she received from home were often taken by staff members who either kept them or gave them to other patients. Another witness reported being teased by care staff who openly consumed the sweets and other food she had been given by visitors.

Knowledge of abuse

Evidence was given of witnesses disclosing details of abuse to parents, relatives, care staff, and other professionals both within and outside the institutions. The investigation and outcome of abuse disclosures varied. Witnesses also commented that the public nature of certain aspects of the abuse they experienced made awareness unavoidable. They reported being abused in front of both other patients and staff members. A number of witnesses also remarked that the manner in which they were treated by staff was seen by many who visited the hospitals. Three (3) witnesses reported attending secondary schools in the local community where teachers were supportive and were believed to be aware of the deprivations and abuse the witnesses experienced in the hospital facilities where they resided.

Twenty (20) witnesses reported that their abuse was directly observed by others during their admission, mainly by other patients and nursing and care staff. Two (2) witnesses reported that physical abuse of patients was witnessed by a doctor on one occasion and by various staff members on an ongoing basis in another facility. One witness described the look of shock on a visiting doctor’s face when he walked into a ward to see a patient being hit by a staff member. A witness reported that staff members attempted to compensate for the charge nurse’s harsh treatment of patients by being discreetly kind afterwards.

As previously mentioned the public nature of daily routines on a hospital ward where patients were confined to bed resulted in many witnesses being aware of abuse through direct observation. Witnesses believed that staff were similarly aware of what occurred.

A number of witnesses commented that there was nobody they could talk to about the abuse they experienced. Some witnesses had no visitors and others remarked that there was no opportunity to talk privately when visitors did come. Witnesses with communication difficulties were particularly disadvantaged in relation to disclosing the abuse they were experiencing at the time. Witnesses also commented on the fact that they did not understand what was happening to them and were afraid to talk to anyone about it: I kind of know why I didn’t tell my mother what was going on, because I didn’t know what was right and what was wrong, so if I’d have told my mother she’d have gone mad. • I used hear the nun saying “are you going to tell your mammy, are you going to tell your mammy?”...then it clicked, I said to myself that if I tell my mother then I’ll get another hiding. • I couldn’t tell my parents ... (about sexual abuse) ...you just done what you were told. There was very little communication ... I didn’t know what the hell was going on, I thought it was all medical and you’d be thinking what were they at?

Ten (10) witnesses reported telling someone about the abuse they experienced. Seven (7) of the reported disclosures were to parents or relatives and three were made to external professionals, including social workers, gardaí and a school counsellor. A number of other witnesses reported that they disclosed the abuse they had experienced for the first time when they attended the Commission. It is so important to tell someone about my experience...about what happened to me in hospital. The only time I ever talked about it before was to my wife... (recently)...not all the details. I wanted to tell someone, I didn’t know who to tell. I was going to tell the guard... (gardai)..., but that would upset all my family...I dearly wanted to tell someone, in case I passed away and it would never be told.

Seven (7) witnesses reported that they were believed by those to whom they disclosed their abuse, including staff, other professionals and family members. In six instances the witnesses received positive responses to their abuse disclosures including the dismissal of an abusive staff member. In two instances, witnesses’ subsequent reports to the gardaí were stated to be have been investigated without any charges being made against the reported abusers.

One witness reported that staff members both within the hospital and through external services defended him in disputes with the religious Sister in charge. They attempted to protect him from abuse by her and complained to the higher authorities about the mistreatment to which he was subjected. The witness understood that staff members were initially threatened with dismissal for taking this stance on his behalf. He was subsequently transferred to a more supportive environment with the assistance of professionals external to the hospital.

Another witness told a relative that he was being beaten. When a complaint was made to the religious Sister in charge about the witness’s treatment the relative was sent a written request to stop visiting, which he ignored. The witness commented that he subsequently received better treatment, especially when he had visitors. It was worse for others, I had ...relative... who visited me, they... (relatives)... took me out and I told them.... Relatives... confronted staff ... to an extent it made a difference, I was left alone for the day they knew ...relative... was coming. Sr ...X...wrote to my mother to stop... relative... coming to visit me.