Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital was a place of horror and torture for its young patients. Photo: PUBLIC DOMAIN./ Pawful
Abuse victims from the Lake Alice Unit in Manawatū-Whanganui that are terminally ill will receive "rapid" compensation from the government.
In a statement on Monday, Cabinet has agreed to make a rapid payment of $20,000 available for terminally ill survivors of the rural psychiatric facility's Child and Adolescent Unit between 1972 and 1978.
Minister Erica Stanford is leading the government's response into the Royal Commission's Report into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions.
The inquiry released its 3000-page final report last month that found at least 200,000 people had been abused by state and faith-based institutions since 1950.
The Royal Commission found torture was inflicted on children at the Lake Alice psychiatric hospital near Marton in the 1970s under the watch of its lead psychiatrist, Dr Selwyn Leeks.
The Medical Council of New Zealand apologised to Lake Alice survivors after findings were released.
She said they had been informed a small number of survivors only had a short time left to live.
"That's why Cabinet has agreed to make a rapid payment of $20,000 available for terminally ill survivors," she said.
"We know many survivors of the unit have spent their lives in financial hardship and with significant health issues because of the ongoing impact of the torture and abuse they experienced.
"This is just the first step."
The $20,000 rapid payment will be delivered through the Ministry of Health which was already operating historic claims for survivors of the unit.
"While we can never fully make redress for or right the harm survivors experienced, I can confirm the government is also working at pace on a specific redress package for Lake Alice survivors to acknowledge the torture that took place," Stanford said.
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey said supporting documentation would be needed to apply for the payment, including "a letter from a medical professional confirming a terminal diagnosis and prognosis of six-months or less".
"It is deeply saddening that young people in Lake Alice, who should have been safe there, were subject to mistreatment and torture. Any harm, and especially any abuse as result of trust placed in government institutions, is unacceptable," Doocey said.
