Police fear Kwong Wah Hospital has too few security staff after a patient's body was not found until 11 hours after he went missing last weekend. Inspector Marco Tang Tai-shing, officer in charge of the death inquiry at Yau Ma Tei station, said yesterday that he would meet Kwong Wah officials to discuss his concerns. 'In the hospital sometimes only the nurses are available [to search for anyone gone missing] and they are too busy handling the patients,' he said. 'They should have sufficient security staff around.' Mr Tang said he would also investigate why it had taken the hospital about nine or 10 hours to report the patient's disappearance. A resident of a nearby flat is understood to have seen Chan Kwok-wing, 53, fall from the hospital roof and have heard a loud bang at about 9 pm last Friday. The hospital told the police of Chan's disappearance at about 7 am the next day. But his body was only found after the resident spoke to police at about 8.30 am. Hospital chief executive Dr William Ho Shiu-wei admitted the reporting delay - more than twice the 'working guideline' of four hours after the disappearance - could have been because fewer staff were available at night. The hospital has five day and four night security staff for 1,173 beds. Asked if that was sufficient, Dr Ho said: 'The ward staff to a certain extent look after themselves.' No one had heard a bang because Chan had fallen in a secluded spot, which was also why security staff had not seen him on the roof, Dr Ho said.
