Ward door not locked on night patient went missing, inquest told

AN inquest into the death of a 76-year-old man, whose body was recovered from the Camowen River after he fled from the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital in Omagh in 2021, has heard that the ward door was not locked on the night he disappeared.

Ernest ‘Ernie’ Kells was an inpatient at Oak Villa in Omagh in the days leading up to his death on April 2, 2021.

On Tuesday, the inquest heard from members of Mr Kells’ family, including his wife Emily and son Nigel, as well as mental health nurse Nicola McLoughlin, who was the ward manager at the time.

Mr Kells’ son described his father as a ‘kind and caring man’ who ‘loved to keep active’, but said the Covid-19 lockdown had taken a toll on his mental health after he was unable to get out and about.

It was heard that Mr Kells had attended the emergency department in March 2021 after experiencing suicidal thoughts.

He was later admitted voluntarily to Oak Villa for treatment for severe depression and psychosis.

The inquest was told he was only seen once by a doctor during his first week on the ward.

On one occasion, Mr Kells – described as a ‘very modest man’ – was left ‘in a distressed state’ after being showered by a female staff member, fearing he would be in trouble for exposing himself.

His wife Emily told the inquest that on the day he went missing, he made several phone calls in an agitated state.

In a state of psychosis, he told her he feared that staff were going to ‘electrocute and burn him’ after seeing an ECG machine beside his bed.

Nurse McLoughlin, offering condolences to the family, said she recalled only a brief conversation with Mr Kells and accepted that his management notes were not properly updated and lacked sufficient detail.

On the night of his disappearance, Mr Kells left Oak Villa unnoticed and made his way to the nearby Camowen River.

While CCTV captured him leaving the ward, there were no external cameras to trace his movements afterwards.

Counsel for the Western Trust, Sean Smith, told the inquest: “The one thing we do know, seeing the CCTV, is that the door was not locked. There was a failure there.”

The Inquest continues today.