Jecintha Death: MP Keith Vaz attacks hospital for failing to offer help to nurse’s family
Mangalore Today/ Daily Mail
London, Dec 10: The family of the tragic nurse who took the hoax call to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was staying have been given less support than the Australian DJs behind the stunt, an MP said yesterday.
Keith Vaz demanded a full inquiry into Jacintha Saldanha’s death after meeting her husband and two teenage children at the House of Commons.
The radio hosts of 2Day FM, who boasted of their prank call while the duchess was being treated for severe morning sickness, have been given counselling because of their ‘fragile’ mental state.
Tragic: Benedict Barboza (centre), 49, the husband of Jacintha Saldanha (centre, photo), is pictured with his children Lisha (left), 14, and Junal (right), 16, in Westminster ahead of a meeting with Labour MP Keith Vaz
Together: Mr Barboza (centre) at the Houses of Parliament in central London with Lisha and Junal for a meeting with Mr Vaz (right)
Last night Mrs Saldanha’s family made a private visit to the hospital and were said to be being comforted by a senior member of staff.
But speaking earlier Mr Vaz, who has been supporting Mrs Saldanha’s family, said her devastated husband and children had yet to be visited by or receive help from bosses at the private hospital.
He also claimed that police – not her employer – broke the news of the dedicated nurse’s death after her body had been found at staff accommodation last Friday.
He said: ‘They want the facts to be established so that they can effectively grieve. What is needed, clearly, is an inquiry by the hospital into how this tragic case happened.’
Difficult time: In a BBC interview, Mr Vaz (centre) said Mr Barboza (left) - along with Lisha and Junal (right) - had been left ’shocked and bewildered’ after Mrs Saldanha was found dead at nurses’ housing on Friday morning
Emotional: Mr Vaz (centre, red scarf) hugs Mr Barboza (centre, wearing glasses) and his two children - Lisha and Junal (faces not pictured) in Westminster last night
He added that the chief executive of King Edward VII Hospital should have personally phoned Mrs Saldanha’s husband Benedict Barboza, and even gone to his Bristol home, to tell him of his wife’s death because that ‘would have been the right thing to do’.
Mr Vaz said that while the focus had been on the emotional apologies of DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian ‘who haven’t lost a loved one’, the needs of Mr Barboza and his children, 17-year-old Junal and Lisha, 14, had been overlooked. There are a loving husband and two kids here who are grieving – they expected to see their mum come home on Friday and that never happened,’ he said.
‘We have the Australian DJs who are getting all this counselling, but what about the family? What about support for them?’
Mrs Saldanha, 46, described as a ‘strong, popular and profoundly caring nurse’, was found dead on Friday morning, two days after the prank call in which the two DJs posed as the Queen and Prince Charles was broadcast.
Calls for action: Prime Minister David Cameron (left, pictured in Cambridge today) called the death ’an absolute tragedy’; and Mr Vaz (right, pictured last week) said the hospital must provide more support to the family
Saddened: Sydney-based 2DayFM radio presenters Michael Christian (left) and Mel Greig (right in left, and right) made a grovelling apology today in two interviews aired on Australian TV
The hospital defended its actions, saying that chief executive John Lofthouse had phoned Mr Barboza, 49, on the Friday afternoon, offering whatever support he needed, and had repeated that offer in a letter.
But it was only after Mr Vaz met Lord Glenarthur, the hospital’s chairman, yesterday afternoon that the hospital announced it would investigate the circumstances leading up to Mrs Saldanha’s death. Mr Vaz’s involvement also prompted the hospital to announce it was establishing a fund in her memory.
Condolences: Flowers and personal messages (right) are pictured today outside the King Edward VII Hospital apartments where Jacintha Saldanha (left) was found dead in central London last week
On Friday, hospital bosses were quick to say publicly that Mrs Saldanha had not faced any disciplinary action after putting the hoaxers through to Kate’s ward, where another nurse relayed details of her condition. But it remains unclear if Mrs Saldanha was reprimanded verbally after the incident.
Mrs Saldanha’s mother, Carmine, collapsed and was taken to hospital in Mangalore, India, when she was told of her daughter’s death yesterday.
The nurse’s family had kept the news from her until yesterday morning because she is in ill health and has a weak heart.
Mrs Saldanha’s brother Naveen said: ‘She is very sick and this will make things worse. We are so worried about her.’
Scotland Yard said a post-mortem examination would be held today. The Metropolitan Police are understood to have asked police in Sydney for assistance, with a view to interviewing the two DJs ahead of an inquest into Mrs Saldanha’s death.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have sent their condolences to Mrs Saldanha’s family.
A St James’s Palace spokesman stressed that they had not complained to the hospital about the hoax call, saying: ‘On the contrary, we offered our full and heartfelt support to the nurses involved.’
Courtesy: Dailymail, London