Wolverhampton doctor lay dead at hospital for two days
The body of a junior doctor from Wolverhampton lay undiscovered in a hospital storeroom for two days, an inquest heard.
Eduard Zigar, aged 25, took his own life at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham less than a week after beginning his placement, the city's coroner's court was told.
There had been difficulty identifying him as missing because hospital staff were looking under the wrong name, the hearing was told.
Dr Zigar, a Lithuanian national living in Wolverhampton, was a locum at the Birmingham hospital and part of the upper gastro-intestinal surgical team.
He was captured on the hospital's CCTV at about 7pm on Saturday, August 25. It wasn't until more than 48 hours that he was found in the ambulatory care unit at about 10pm on August 27.
Dr Zigar had begun to work at the hospital on August 20 and appeared 'detached' and 'quiet' the day he was last seen alive, colleagues said.
Consultant John Whiting told the hearing that he found Dr Zigar to be a little nervous, which he said was not unusual and gave him no concerns for his mental well-being.
When he did not turn up for his shift on Sunday, staff were not initially worried as they assumed there had been a rota error.
When Dr Zigar's friends and family became concerned, the locum agency contacted the hospital but, because of entering his name into the system incorrectly, it could find no trace of him working there.
Since the death, the hospital has introduced a supervisor for the locum team, the inquest heard.
Dr Zigar's mother described him as 'tolerant and loving' and said his death had come as a 'massive shock'.
In a statement, the hospital trust described the death as a 'tragedy' and said it hoped the conclusion of the inquest would 'bring some sense of closure'.
The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide.
