The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The spokesperson for Grantham Hospital (GH) announces a sentinel event today (December 7) as below:
A female patient with terminal cancer was admitted to a palliative care ward of GH since mid-October this year. Appropriate treatment and assessment had been provided since admission.
At around 4am today, the patient was found pulseless and unconsciousness by ward staff. Family of the patient was informed subsequently. The patient was certified dead by a doctor at around 7am. The ward staff later assisted the patient to get changed and discovered a knife on her left chest. The staff immediately reported the case to the police.
GH is deeply saddened by the incident and has expressed condolences to the family members, to whom assistance would be offered when needed. The Hospital is very concerned about the incident and has reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office via the Advance Incident Reporting System. A root cause analysis investigation will be conducted to look into the incident. The investigation report will be submitted to the Head Office in eight weeks. The incident has also been reported to the Coroner.
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