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Mum’s trauma over hospital’s blunder
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A MUM whose husband subjected her to an alleged two-day rape and torture ordeal has received an apology from Bedford Hospital after the address of her safe house was given to his solicitor.
Jane Smith, 40, who lives in Bedford has waived her right to anonymity to speak to this paper, but for legal reasons we cannot use her real name at this stage.
Ms Smith was admitted to Bedford Hospital in December after attempting to take her own life. This followed an incident over the 2011 August Bank Holiday weekend in which she claims she was stripped, raped, subjected to degrading abuse and beaten while kept prisoner in the kitchen of their home. She suffered multiple injuries and has been told that she may have to have a hysterectomy.
With the help of domestic abuse team MARAC, she took steps to leave her husband after the incident.
But after the new address was passed on by Bedford Hospital in March she claims that the man, who is not the father of her children, has visited her home.
She said: “He got the address and came round that evening, he was trying to kick the door down. I had my daughter with me and we were petrified.
“He said ‘you think you’re so clever, all my solicitor had to do was make one call’.”
She added: “I have gone through so much difficulty to get a place where he wouldn’t know where I was and did everything I was advised to do.
“For someone to be as stupid as to give out my address in just one phone call is terrible.”
After the alleged incident Ms Smith was treated at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital for bleeding and injuries to her genitals, the rupture of a breast implant and multiple bruising.
She said: “I started washing myself with bleach once a day then it went to twice a day and then I couldn’t go twenty minutes without having a shower.
“When it happened, every time I went to move I got kicked, it was stone cold floor and I was absolutely begging him for a drink.”
Since the incident Ms Smith has attended two meetings to discuss the case with Bedford Hospital bosses as well as receiving a letter of apology.
A spokesman said: “We have offered our sincere apologies to the patient concerned for this apparent breach in our usually stringent confidentiality procedures, and the subsequent distress caused.
“Following an internal investigation, we believe that a member of staff suggested an address for this patient to a solicitor’s office over the telephone. This is not acceptable practice and we have addressed this matter both internally, through training and awareness-raising around confidentiality and disclosure, and with the solicitor’s office concerned.
He added: “We have kept this patient fully informed of the steps we have taken to address the issues raised through our formal complaints procedure.
“If this patient feels there are issues that have not been satisfactorily resolved, we would urge them to contact us again so that we can look into matters further.”
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Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 21 May 2013
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Temperature: 8 C to 16 C
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