Jimmy Savile: Full horrors exposed in NHS hospital abuse reports

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Reports investigating 28 NHS hospitals have revealed the “truly awful” sexual abuse carried out by the disgraced DJ and presenter Jimmy Savile, who investigators say was given unrestricted access to wards for decades. Some of the key findings from the report are detailed below.

Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds

Sixty people came forward to say they had been abused between the ages of five and 75. This number included hospital staff.

Patients were abused in their beds and one ten-year-old boy was sexually assaulted as he waited for his broken arm to be x-rayed.

The report cited allegations that Savile claimed to have performed sex acts on corpses in the mortuary and claimed a ring he wore was made from the “glass eyes from dead bodies in LGI mortuary

Broadmoor Hospital, Berkshire

Investigators found "clear failings" in the way access to wards was controlled, as Savile had keys allowing him unrestricted access within the security perimeter.

Female patients there in the 1980s were often required to strip and bathe in front of staff, during which Savile would often watch and sometimes made inappropriate comments, the report found.

Barnet General Hospital (BGH), London

A former patient said that nurses in 1983 told her Savile "liked to have sex with dead bodies".

Today's report said: "She described having a conversation with the nurses in which they allegedly said they spied on JS when they worked at another hospital and observed him having sex with a dead body.

"The witness confirmed that this was not something that happened at BGH and she thought that it had happened at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, but could not be certain of that."

It concluded: "The conversation reported by the witness happened at BGH, however the incident of JS having sex with dead bodies did not happen at BGH."

Booth Hall Hospital, Manchester

A woman said she was assaulted by Savile at the hospital in about 1958 when she was a patient and aged about seven or eight years old. She alleged that her father let Savile abuse her.

In another allegation a man said he was assaulted in 1974 at a hospital he said was "Middleton Hospital" when he was nine or ten.

Today's report said: "He alleges that the nurses told the patients Jimmy Savile was coming to visit and that they were to hide under the covers and pretend to be asleep.

"Savile then came over to the bed put his hands under the sheets and on to the victim's genitals. The victim alleges he then chased Savile from the ward."

The report concluded: "It has not been possible therefore to produce conclusive evidence that the events described by both alleged victims took place."

Hammersmith Hospital, London

One allegation was that Savile made inappropriate comments during a visit and another related to an allegation of a serious sexual offence by a senior employee of the hospital. The report concluded the more serious allegation was impossible to investigate due to a complete lack of relevant evidence.

Prestwich Psychiatric Hospital, Greater Manchester

An investigation was launched into an allegation of sexual assault on a woman who was brought on to the hospital site in about 1960.

Today's report said: "Although there are no witnesses who can verify or refute the account of Ms C, it is the considered view of the investigation team that the alleged incidents are likely to have occurred."

Whitby Hospital, Whitby

A former member of staff alleged that Savile had touched her inappropriately as he was visiting a ward sometime between 1964 and 1968.

Today's report said: "The investigation team had no reason to disbelieve her and therefore conclude that the incident she described took place."

Moss Side Hospital, Merseyside

After a female patient at Moss Side Hospital in Liverpool screamed in protest at Savile for placing his hand on her thigh and moving it towards her intimate area, she was isolated by staff, the report said.

The report said: "Ms Y stated that she and other female patients were encouraged to sit on JS's knee and have their photograph taken. She did not describe who encouraged her to take this action.

"Whilst she was sitting on his knee, he put his hand on her thigh and moved it upwards, towards her intimate area. She remonstrated with him, screaming in protest, and as a result was isolated by staff when she tried to explain what had happened to her."

St Catherine's Hospital, Birkenhead

A 14-year-old girl's claim that Savile jumped into her bed and touched her inappropriately at the hospital was found to be "credible and convincing" by today's investigation.

Dryburn Hospital, Durham

The hospital radio station manager from 1995 to 2000 knew about allegations that boys were "procured" for Jimmy Savile by a third party. The investigation found no evidence that the hospital itself was involved in the procurement.

Investigators have passed information to police about a third party and a specific location in the North East used for the procurement of boys for Savile.

Digby Hospital, Exeter

The report found Savile raped a woman in a motor home at this mental hospital in 1970.

It said: "Ms X stated Jimmy Savile was in a motor home/caravan and he invited her to see the vehicle, where he then raped her. She did not report the incident to anyone at the time and did not believe anyone was aware of what had happened."

Melanie Walker, chief executive of Devon Partnership NHS Trust, said: "On behalf of the NHS, I would like to apologise to Ms X. Suffering serious sexual abuse whilst in the care of the NHS is, quite clearly, unacceptable and deeply traumatic.

"We have provided support to Ms X since she first brought her experience to the attention of the police. Raising issues of this nature requires a great deal of courage and we hope that the investigation process may have helped her, in some small way, to address the events that took place more than forty years ago."

High Royds Hospital, Leeds.

A former patient at the mental health unit and a member of staff both complained Savile had inappropriately touched people during a fancy dress fun run in the 1980s. The report said the allegations were accepted and appeared to be true.

Saxondale Hospital, Nottingham

One victim alleged that Savile pulled up her skirt with a hockey stick at a disco. The report said: "There was no reason to doubt that she gave an honest and truthful account of the incident as she recalled it."

Dewsbury District Hospital / Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield

A woman alleged she was sexually assaulted by Savile when she was 15 and an in-patient. Investigators found the woman was actually a patient at Staincliffe Hospital, now demolished. They concluded that the incident did take place.

The report said: "This allegation related to a disclosure by Ms X that, whilst she was an in-patient on a ward in a hospital in Dewsbury, Savile sexually assaulted her by attempting to lay on top of her and 'French kissing' her. Ms X was 15 years old at the time."

Additional reporting by the Press Association