Ex Broadmoor nurse who was Jimmy Savile whistleblower in NHS court fight to keep home on hospital estate

The retired Broadmoor nurse who helped expose Jimmy Savile’s abuse is locked in a £35,000 fight to avoid being evicted from her NHS-owned family home near the hospital.

Keith Palmer, 72, worked as a nurse at a private hospital for the mentally ill between 1976 and 2014 and was granted a tenancy of a house on hospital grounds in Eastern Lane, Crowthorne, in November 1988.

Over the years she worked as a senior nurse at the hospital, which imprisoned a number of psychopaths including child murderer Ian Brady and gangster Ronnie Kray, and played a role in a landmark 2014 Panorama documentary that exposed Savile’s links to the hospital.

Savile, who died aged 84 in October 2011, had a private bedroom and office in the hospital, as well as a personal set of keys that allowed him to move freely around the sprawling maximum security institution. An NHS report prepared after Savile’s death concluded that Savile had sexually assaulted five victims during his crooked stint at Broadmoor.

Mr. Palmer is now caught up in a struggle to keep his home there; The NHS claims to have settled his debts of £12,400 in rent arrears and £22,811 in unpaid utilities supplies and is planning to sack him after nearly 40 years.

Mr Palmer lives at the house on Eastern Lane with his wife Jacqueline, a former nurse, and their daughters and grandchildren.

Nicholas Grundy, barrister for the West London NHS Trust, told London’s High Court that he had been given a “resignation notice” in January 2024 but had refused to budge, prompting a court request over the ownership of the house.

But the former nurse and whistleblower said she was “disappointed” with her former employers and only fell behind when they illegally increased her rent.

In his written defense to the court, Mr Grundy said the NHS had taken over the management of the private hospital, which was previously run by the Broadmoor Hospital Authority and became Mr Palmer’s landlord in 2001.

Mr Grundy claimed Mr Palmer’s occupation of the cottage when the nurse first moved in was not recognized as a “protected” tenancy, meaning he was not entitled to permanent occupation.

In any case, he lost his long-term occupation rights due to alleged non-payment of rent arrears, the lawyer said.

The court heard Mr Palmer met all his rent obligations until June 2021, when the amount was increased from £750 to £950 per month, but has since dropped to £12,000.

At one point in 1991, the hospital’s then-managers considered selling cottages like Mr Palmer’s to tenants under the government’s new “right to buy” scheme, but the plan was ultimately shelved.

In the witness box, Mr Grundy asked the former nurse if she was angry at the decision, to which Mr Palmer replied “not angry, but disappointed”.

Martin Young, for Mr Palmer, disputed NHS claims that he was seriously behind on his rent, insisting that his tenancy was protected under the Rent Act 1977 and that his rent had never been properly “recorded or agreed”.

Moreover, he argued that any rent increases after June 2018 were not properly authorized by the Secretary of State as required by law.

As for the unpaid utility bills, he claimed Mr. Palmer had no obligation to pay some of his bills until the overflowing septic tank issue was resolved.

He also claimed that releasing him would violate his right to a settled family life, guaranteed by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and noted recent health problems such as a mild stroke and high blood pressure.

Jimmy Savile’s ties to the hospital stretched back to 1968; His increased involvement in hospital life was approved by Broadmoor’s chief medical officer, who believed his presence boosted staff and patient morale.

Savile gave the impression that he supported the hospital and helped its patients, but a 2014 NHS report prepared after his death found that his fundraising achievements for the hospital were “relatively inconsequential” and that he used his Broadmoor accommodation and a nearby caravan to “entertain a regular stream of female visitors”.

It found Savile preyed on five people at Broadmoor, although the investigation concluded he abused fewer victims at Broadmoor than at some other hospitals where he worked.

Savile’s set of keys and unfettered access to ward areas were approved by the medical examiner, and his influence at Broadmoor was further consolidated in the late 1980s when he was made a leading member of the hospital’s task force “in a direct executive role within the hospital”.

His influence at the hospital was such that he was routinely referred to as “Dr Savile”.

The trial in the High Criminal Court continues.