Advertisement

Missing patient leapt to death

Reading Time:1 minute
Why you can trust SCMP
0

A patient who went missing from his hospital bed was found sprawled dead on a podium almost 10 hours later, an inquest heard yesterday.

Dr John Kwok Ching-kwong, chief of the neurosurgical unit at Kwong Wah Hospital, Yau Ma Tei, said staff were preoccupied with six seriously ill patients on the night of August 23 last year.

Chan Kwok-wing, 53, was first noticed missing at 11 pm.

Dr Kwok said they were not worried at the time because he was a healthy and mobile patient expected to be discharged the following day.

Coroner Richard Day recorded a verdict of suicide.

He heard that Chan, a casual manual worker, was admitted to the hospital feeling dizzy, 10 days before his suicide.

Before jumping to his death, Chan had not complained of any serious discomfort or shown any signs of depression, Dr Kwok said.

Advertisement