AN investigation has been launched after a Royal Bolton Hospital patient tried to hang himself.

Patients looked on in horror as the man was rescued by hospital staff in the clinical decision unit (CDU) on New Year’s Day.

Bosses at the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, admitted “an incident” took place but say the findings of the investigation will not be made public due to patient confidentiality.

It is believed the man was saved by a member of staff but escaped without serious harm. A spokesman for Bolton NHS Foundation Trust said: “We can confirm that an incident took place at the hospital on New Year’s Day.

Staff dealt with it and the patient did not come to any serious harm. An internal investigation is taking place.”

The investigation will be carried out by senior clinical and managerial staff “to see if any lessons can be learned”.

A spokesman for the NHS Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group said: “The foundation trust notified NHS Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group that an incident had occurred and assured us that a full investigation was underway.

“The findings of this investigation will be shared with the CCG on completion.


MORE:


“We work with all our providers to ensure transparency with regard to any incidents and seek to develop a learning culture throughout the health economy.”

Andy Morgan, who sits on the health scrutiny, said: “It sounds like the incident was a one-off.

“If that person was intent on doing something like that then is not much staff could have done.

“It seems like the right action was taken at the time.”