Hospital chief apologises for mortuary mix-up
A mortuary mix-up has led a grieving family to cremate the wrong body, the third such case in recent years and the second in little more than a year.
The blunder was discovered yesterday when the family of an 88-year-old man went to collect his body from Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin, only to find it had already been cremated by another, unrelated family.
The body had been placed in the same compartment as that of a 77-year-old man and had been collected by an elderly woman on March 29, the hospital said.
Hospital chief executive Fung Hong said the woman did look at the body, but admitted that the staff had not strictly followed every step to confirm the identity. The two men, who died of natural causes, had similar names, which were listed on the compartment.
A staff member responsible for the mix-up has been suspended and the hospital has promised the results of an inquiry within a month.