The Medical Council has issued a rare apology to survivors of Lake Alice hospital for failing to act on allegations of serious abuse there.
Three complaints about Dr Selwyn Leeks were made, but he was allowed to keep working for decades.
The abuse and torture of children and teenagers inside Lake Alice psychiatric hospital in Manawatu has been well documented.
Despite the complaints about the conduct of Dr Leeks, the Medical Council never took action.
On Wednesday, more than 40 years later, an apology to the survivors was made.
"The Medical Council acknowledges the hurt that you have experienced and apologises for any actions that the Medical Council of the time should have taken but did not," deputy CEO Aleyna Hall said.
The first complaint was made by a survivor in 1977 who alleged Dr Leeks allowed other boys to hold him down, while they took turns at giving him painful electric shocks.
A hearing into the complaint was held but just two months later, the Council signed a certificate of good practice enabling him to go and work in Australia for another 28 years.
"Our job is to protect the public, we're not there to protect doctors so that's a shortcoming if you like," Hall said.
Two more complaints in 1991 and 1999 didn't make it far either and there's no explanation because the council no longer has sufficient records of the allegations.
"It is with regret that the current Medical Council is unable to provide reasons for the decisions that were made in the past in relation to complaints of abuse or in relation to Dr Leeks," Hall explained.
Mike Ferris from the Citizens Commission on Human Rights has advocated for Lake Alice survivors since the 70s and says today's apology at the Abuse in Care inquiry is significant.
"They could have been the heroes in this story, but they actually chose not to be."
But he says for some victims, it's come too late.
"I really hope they expand on that apology and make it very meaningful for each individual involved."
