Patient sets himself on fire

The man - in his 60s - suffered extensive burns and was transferred to the burns unit at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.

His injuries are not believed to be life threatening. The hospital immediately began an internal inquiry into the incident, which happened at 5.13am.

The man had walked out of a lavatory with his night clothes on fire, and a member of staff doused the flames with a fire extinguisher.

Airedale NHS Trust chief executive Bob Allen said the man's identity was not being released, but he confirmed he had been a patient on the acute mental illness ward for several months.

"This is a tragedy for him and his family," said Mr Allen.

The man, a patient on ward four, went to the bathroom, locked himself in and came out alight, said Mr Allen.

"He had managed to get lighter fuel and a lighter from somewhere and set fire to himself. He came out of the lavatory burning, and an extinguisher was used to put out the flames but not before he suffered burns.

"He had been under close observation every 15 minutes, but when somebody goes to the lavatory nobody goes in with them," said Mr Allen.

The incident comes only weeks after two women metal health ward patients - one in a wheelchair - were killed when hit by a train.

They had left the ward unseen and walked onto the nearby Leeds to Skipton line.

The trust is about to launch an inquiry into that incident.

Airedale Community Health Council has questioned the capacity of the hospital to nurse patients who have serious mental illness and threaten suicide.

Chief officer John Godward said: "We have questioned whether the wards are in the correct location because they are near to the railway line and the River Aire.

"And we have questioned whether the levels of staff are able to cope with the serious cases they get."

He said there had been a similar incident last year involving a woman mental health patient who tried to set fire to herself and inhale the smoke.