STAFF at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital will investigate how a man who recently had brain surgery ended up in Reading after walking off his ward.

Thames Valley Police spent Sunday evening searching for 67-year-old John Howe, who went missing from a neurosurgical ward on Sunday at about 8.15pm.

Mr Howe was found safe at 11am on Monday 30 miles away in Reading.

Police said due to his surgery he could have had memory loss and was unable to explain how he ended up in Reading.

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Mr Howe is now back at the Headington hospital and continuing to be treated and monitored.

Yesterday Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, which operates the John Radcliffe, announced it would investigate how Mr Howe was able to leave the hospital grounds without being stopped by staff or security.

Chief nurse Catherine Stoddart said: “The trust will be having an investigation into how Mr Howe was able to go missing. The investigation will also look at the processes that were followed once it was established he was missing so we can learn from this for the future.

Mrs Stoddart added: “I am very pleased that the patient who had gone missing from our hospital has been found safely.

“Our priority was his safe return so that he can continue his care.

“Our staff worked with Thames Valley Police and Mr Howe’s family to offer them support and to share our CCTV footage to help track his movements on our site.”

Spokeswoman for the trust Susan Brown added that such investigations were routine when anyone went missing from the hospital.