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Jacintha Saldanha death was suicide, coroner rules DJ apologises to Jacintha Saldanha's family as nurse's death ruled suicide
(about 2 hours later)
The death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who fell for a prank call about the Duchess of Cambridge from two Australian DJs, was suicide, a coroner has ruled. An Australian DJ who made a hoax call to a hospital caring for the Duchess of Cambridge made a tearful apology as a coroner ruled the nurse who answered the call took her own life after it was broadcast.
Saldanha, who was found hanged after being hoaxed by the radio DJs, blamed herself for being duped and feared facing her bosses, the inquest had heard earlier. Jacintha Saldanha, 46, a night sister at King Edward VII hospital in London, where the pregnant duchess was being treated for severe morning sickness, was found hanged three days after the prank call by Melanie Greig and fellow DJ Mike Christian pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles.
Hours before her death, Jacintha Saldanha, 46, emailed a colleague: "I feel I am to blame, after all it was my fault. I don't know how to face the bosses tomorrow. I feel so ashamed of myself." The inquest heard Saldanha blamed herself for transferring the call, which she believed was genuine, on to the nurse caring for the Duchess who revealed details of her condition, broadcast on Sydney's 2Day FM radio station on 4 December 2012.
The email was sent two days after Saldanha, a night sister at the King Edward VII hospital in London, received a call from two Sydney radio DJs who pretending to be the Queen and the Prince of Wales, and inquiring about the condition of the duchess, who was being treated there for severe morning sickness. Recording a verdict of suicide, Westminster coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox said she was satisfied Indian-born Saldanha, a mother of two, had killed herself.
One of the 2Day FM DJs, Melanie Greig, apologised to Saldanha's family at the inquest, tearfully telling them: "I'm truly sorry, I have wanted to say that for so long." In an unusual move, she consented to Greig, who attended the inquest but was not permitted to give evidence, making a tearful personal statement at the end of the hearing.
Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox, sitting at the high court in London, heard Saldanha, the most senior nurse on duty, took the call at 5.30am on 4 December 2102, and passed it on to the nurse caring for the duchess, who revealed details of her condition. The call was later broadcast. As Saldanha's husband, Ben Barboza, son Junal, 18, and daughter Lisha, 16, sat motionless, Greig sobbed: "I'm so sorry for your loss. I have wanted to say that for so long."
Giving evidence, John Lofthouse, then the hospital's CEO, said the hospital had found itself "at the centre of a worldwide media storm" after Sydney's 2Day FM broadcast the prank conducted by presenters Greig, who attended the inquest, and Mike Christian. The presenter, who no longer works for 2Day FM, added the tragedy would stay with her as "a constant reminder", and said she wished she had "tried harder to stop the prank from airing".
Protocol dictated that Saldanha should have taken the caller's number and ended the call so that verification of identity could be conducted, he said. "To fellow announcers and DJs I urge you to speak up if you don't feel comfortable and to consider the feeling of others when trying to make a joke. The joke should always be on us, the DJs‚" she said.
A meeting of senior management was held, and while some believed the two nurses should be disciplined for breaching protocol, Lofthouse's view and that of the matron and deputy matron was "they had been hoaxed and should be treated as victims", he said. Asked if they would have been disciplined, he replied: "Categorically that was not going to happen." After the verdict the family flanked Labour MP Keith Vaz, their spokesman, as he condemned the hoax, which was "the cause of such mirth in Australia"‚ but had "deprived Ben of his wife, and Lisha and Junal of their beloved mother".
The inquest heard Saldanha, a mother of two, was found hanged in the hospital's nurses' quarters on 7 December. She had sent emails to some colleagues saying she was to blame and indicating she was very upset and would accept punishment. "These despicable and cruel actions, this hoax, has changed their lives forever," he said.
Lofthouse said she was regarded as "a well-balanced, robust, stable individual whose death took us all by shock". The family accepted the verdict, he said, and was taking advice over possible future legal action.
She had worked a night shift after the hoax, he said, adding that "no alarm bells rang for any of us". The family thanked all those who had supported them over the 21 months since her death, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge‚ "who publicly and privately have supported the family and always been of concern for their welfare".
"If any of us in the management team had any inking of any fragility on the part of Jacintha's emotional state, if we had any idea whatsoever of the possibility she might take her life … we would have put our arms around her, literally and metaphorically." Saldanha's son, Junal, added: "Dad, my sister and myself miss our beloved mum every day, and will do so for the rest of our lives."
A meeting was due to be held the following Monday to discuss lessons learned, he said. During the inquest the family's barrister, John Cooper QC, had raised questions about support offered by the hospital to Saldanha after the hoax, and whether it was appropriate that nurses also fielded telephone calls to the hospital during the night.
Saldanha had missed a training day on 6 December, but staff were not concerned, he said, because her son had injured himself playing football, and it was "a reasonable assumption" she had returned to Bristol, where she lived with her family when not working at the hospital. The coroner concluded the support offered had been "reasonable and appropriate" and that Saldanha's suicide was "not reasonably foreseeable".
The inquest heard Saldanha's family had highlighted to police investigators a lack of support from the hospital. Saldanha had sent several emails to colleagues describing her distress and blaming herself for transferring the call. One, sent hours before her death to a night nurse, said: "I don't know how to face the bosses tomorrow. I feel so ashamed of myself."
Questioned by John Cooper QC, for Saldanha's family, Lofthouse defended the hospital's policy at the time, in which the senior night sister answered phone calls at night in the absence of a receptionist. Night calls were rare, he said. Some nights there were none, other nights there were perhaps four. He wanted to correct any impression of the night sister "running around, administering an injection, giving tablets, then the phone rings and they have to answer that as well". Giving evidence, John Lofthouse, then the hospital's chief executive, said hospital protocol dictated Saldanha should have taken the caller's number and ended the call so identity could be verified. Some senior managers thought both nurses should be disciplined, but his view, and that of the matron, was that the nurses were victims and "categorically" they would not be disciplined.
He added: "On the rare occasion when the phone rings, they are best placed to answer it as the most senior nurse in the building at the time." Staff believed her to be "a well balanced, robust, stable individual" and "no alarm bells rang" over her behaviour after the hoax. If anyone had "any inkling of any fragility" or thought it possible she might take her life, he said: "We would have put our arms around her, literally and metaphorically."
Asked by Cooper if the hospital could have done more, Lofthouse said while there was global publicity about the hoax, Saldanha had not been named. If she had "we would have dealt with it differently, we would have protected her in whatever way we needed to". The coroner determined Jacintha took her life on Thursday 6 December – two days after the hoax and the day after it received global media attention. A police search of her laptop showed she researched suicide prevention sites, and news reports of the hoax.
Lofthouse said in a note left by Saldanha, addressed to him, her matron and deputy matron, she wrote: "Please accept my apologies. I am truly sorry. Thank you for all your support." He said the note indicated she was "satisfied" with the support. She left three notes. In one to hospital management, she wrote: "Please accept my apologies. I am truly sorry. Thank you for all your support." Another was addressed to a junior nurse who had accused Saldanha of "bullying and harassment", a grievance that was not upheld. The third indicated "personal wishes".
Saldanha left two other notes. One was addressed to a junior nurse she was mentoring, and who had accused Saldanha of "bullying and harassment". The grievance was not upheld, the inquest heard. The other note indicated "personal wishes". Four calls – the longest lasting 45 seconds – were made by the radio station to the hospital after the hoax call to gain consent to broadcast. They were terminated by the recipient, who was almost certainly Saldanha. The coroner said: "If she did take those calls I find it inconceivable she would have consented, as a participant in the call, to its broadcast."
She had searched online for news reports about the hoax on her laptop, and also accessed suicide prevention sites, the inquest heard . She concluded: "I am satisfied that Jacintha Saldanha took her own life. At the time, the hoax was clearly pressing on her mind as were the difficulties she had been experiencing with her colleague."