Husband of nurse Jacintha Saldanha "devastated" by her death

THE husband of a Bristol nurse believed to have taken her life after being duped by prank callers to the private hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated has said he is "devastated".

Jacintha Saldanha, who lived in Southmead with her husband and two teenage children, was found dead on Friday at nurses' lodgings near the central London King Edward VII hospital, where the duchess was being treated for pregnancy complications, just three days after answering the call from two Australian DJs posing as the Queen and Prince Charles.

The nurse, who used to work for North Bristol NHS Trust - which runs Southmead Hospital near the family home - answered the initial call at 5.30am before putting the DJs through to another nurse who gave the callers details of the duchess' condition.

Her husband Ben Barboza, has posted an obituary for his wife on his Facebook page.

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In a brief statement on the page Mr Barboza, who lists his employment as working for the NHS, said: "I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife Jacintha in tragic circumstances."

His post said that Mrs Saldanha will be laid to rest in Shirva, India, where she was born.

The chairman of the private hospital where Mrs Saldanha had worked for four years has sent a letter to the parent company of the Australian radio station responsible for the hoax call.

Lord Glenarthur said he wanted to "protest" against the "extremely foolish" gag and the "truly appalling" decision to broadcast the pre-recorded call.

His letter to Southern Cross Austereo said: "King Edward VII's Hospital cares for sick people, and it was extremely foolish of your presenters even to consider trying to lie their way through to one of our patients, let alone actually make the call."

He wrote: "The immediate consequence of these premeditated and ill-considered actions was the humiliation of two dedicated and caring nurses who were simply doing their job tending to their patients."

Lord Glenarthur described the consequences of the hoax call as "tragic beyond words".

"I appreciate that you cannot undo the damage which has been done but I would urge you to take steps to ensure that such an incident could never be repeated," he signed off.