A HEART attack victim had to delay emergency surgery after she was left too stressed by the theft of her handbag from her hospital bedside.
Krystyna Kubiak, 63, of Rayners Lane, South Harrow, suffered a cardiac arrest at home on October 18 and nine days later was a patient on the Jenner Ward at Northwick Park Hospital waiting for a transfer to the Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea, south-west London, to undergo a triple heart bypass.
She packed her things and left them on a bedside chair before popping into the TV lounge to watch a quiz show but was horrified 50 minutes later when she returned to discover a thief had stolen her handbag.
Mrs Kubiak said: “I was absolutely devastated and I couldn’t believe that some low life would come into hospital, to the cardiology ward, and steal someone’s handbag with all their most precious possessions. Some items can never be replaced such as a photograph of my late mother and me when I was a child.”
Mrs Kubiak, a retired shop worker, was occupying a private side room at the Watford Road hospital in Harrow, but due to patient privacy rules the area does not have CCTV cameras.
The stress of the loss could have brought on a second heart attack so doctors had to delay the surgical procedure.
“I came to hospital seriously ill and you expect to be safe,” she said. “It doesn’t enter your mind that you or your possessions aren’t safe and secure.
“Once I was at the Royal Brompton, staff tell you to look after your things and you’re given a form to sign stating that everything’s left at the owner’s risk, but there’s a lock and key on your bedside table to store your belongings.
“Northwick Park doesn’t have this system, but it should. Security needs to be improved to stop other vulnerable patients going through the same stress and trauma.”
Mrs Kubiak’s family discovered from the building’s security team that this was not an isolated incident and her daughter Paloma added: “It’s absolutely disgusting that this goes on in hospital.”
The black shoulder bag contained a black purse with a driving licence, identification, bank cards and a photograph.
Carole Flowers, director of nursing for The North West London Hospitals NHS Trust that runs the hospital, said: “Thefts like this are extremely rare at our hospitals, but sadly there are some heartless opportunists who take advantage of patients and staff when everyone is very busy.
“At times like that, when a lot of patients, visitors and staff are coming and going, there are invariably no witnesses. Unfortunately, that appears to be the case in this instance.”
The trust confirmed it does not have CCTV in wards and private rooms out of respect for patients’ privacy and dignity and for reasons of confidentiality, and it is not unusual for hospitals to have unlockable lockers because it is too easy for keys to be lost.
It said there have been no other thefts reported on the ward recently. Mrs Kubiak’s triple heart bypass operation was due to be rescheduled for today (Thursday) at the Royal Brompton Hospital.
