Hospital search fails to find dead man

A patient’s body lay undiscovered for four days in the shower of
a hospital psychiatric ward, an inquest has heard.

Kevin Hackney, 46, from Leeds, had been admitted to St James’s
hospital after a failed suicide bid in May 2003. Later that month,
Hackney went missing. He was found when a patient complained of the
smell coming out of a locked shower, Leeds Coroner’s Court
heard.

He had cut his throat with a razor blade the day he went
missing.

Peter McGuinness, chief nurse at Leeds mental health trust, said
the search for the missing patient had not been thorough. The trust
has since improved its staffing, training and missing persons
policy, he said.