The family of a pensioner found dead almost a fortnight after discharging herself from hospital may never know exactly how she died, an inquest has heard.

The body of Sheila Ratcliffe was discovered in woodland near Mersham in the summer - 12 days after she was last seen at the William Harvey.

An inquest at County Hall in Maidstone today heard the 76-year-old widow had been brought to the A&E ward of the hospital by police in the early hours of August 1.

Officers had found her in a confused state at her home in Western Avenue, Ashford, during a welfare check after a neighbour said they had not seen her all day.

When she was admitted to hospital, Mrs Ratcliffe - a Type 1 diabetic - presented blood sugar levels of 30 millimoles per litre; almost 10 times the expected amount.

She appeared confused, and also presented a high temperature and a suspected urinary tract infection after she was moved to the acute medical unit (AMU).

The inquest heard the pensioner later said she wanted to go home after becoming more lucid with her blood sugar stabilising.

Despite her doctor and nurses attempting to convince her to stay, she was adamant she had to go home and care for her two dogs.

After refusing an offer of a taxi and signing her self-discharge forms, CCTV footage showed Mrs Ratcliffe walking through the reception of the AMU looking disorientated.

It is thought she then left the William Harvey and walked in the opposite direction to where her house was.

Staff alerted the police after a neighbour called the hospital the following day to see how she was, after she did not return home that day.

A search and rescue operation was launched, however it was not until Wednesday, August 12 that her body was discovered by a passing walker in Bockhanger Wood off the A20; about 25 minutes walk away from the hospital.

Assistant coroner Katrina Hepburn said no cause of death was ascertained during an autopsy, and as such Mrs Ratcliffe's cause of death had to be listed as open.

She said: "I find this to be a very sad case of a lady who certainly appeared to have capacity to discharge herself at the time despite the efforts of the medical staff to convince her to stay.

"It seems as though her capacity did dip after this and she can be seen on CCTV appearing to be disorientated.

'This is a deeply tragic case...'

"A cause of death was not possible to attain, but I do think it likely that Mrs Ratcliffe suffered a medical incident a short time after leaving the hospital, maybe as early as later that evening or early the following morning."

A root cause analysis at the hospital found that in future, a full and more thorough capacity check should be followed when patients apply for self-discharge, and that a courtesy follow-up to ensure they got home safely should be carried out, to allow for a missing persons investigation to be launched more quickly if a patient does not make it home.

A lawyer representing the East Kent Hospitals Trust - which runs the William Harvey - told the court in advance of the inquest that all of the suggested changes found in the analysis had been implemented.

Ms Hepburn said: "This is a deeply tragic case and I would like to pass on my most sincere condolences to Sheila's family and friends."

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