Investigation into death of cancer patient

A London hospital is investigating the death of a cancer patient who was moved to a hotel between chemotherapy doses to cut costs, officials say. The hospital is reviewing its "ambulatory chemotherapy service," which discharges chemotherapy patients to hotels to rest in between doses, after one patient died in such an arrangement, The Daily Telegraph reported. The body of Ian Curtis, 39, was discovered by his wife Nov. 2 in his hotel room a mere 200 yards from University College London Hospital, two days after he began his second round of chemotherapy. Curtis was last seen by hospital staff Nov. 1 when nurses noted he showed no "symptoms or signs of infection." Dr. Kirit Ardeshna told investigators: "We formed a relationship with one of the local hotels so that patients who were having relatively complex chemotherapy would have it in the outpatient facility. If all was well they would be allowed to stay in the hotel. "It is certainly cheaper in terms of bed costs because we are paying the costs of a hotel room rather than a functioning bed that would have been five times more expensive," he added.