A man claims King Edward VII Memorial Hospital let his family view his deceased grandfather covered head to toe in a sheet like an Egyptian mummy.

Jahma Gibbons, 30, said staff also failed to contact the next of kin, leaving him to find out about his grandfather's passing more than three hours later.

Grenville Gibbons died at approximately 5.30 a.m. on Wednesday, but Mr. Gibbons said he was only told when he telephoned the hospital at 9 a.m. to ask how he was.

Mr. Gibbons visited the hospital at 9.30 a.m., accompanied by his aunt Laverne Simmons, but found his grandfather wrapped up in a sheet in the Continuing Care ward.

Hospital procedure follows that staff cover a body to prepare it for the morgue, but if a visit by relatives is expected, then the head is uncovered.

"When I got there and saw my grandfather wrapped up in a sheet, that was a very traumatic experience," said Mr. Gibbons.

"They had the bed stripped and he was wrapped up head to toe like a mummy. To just find out he had died and then to get there and find him like this, I found it cold-hearted and very upsetting. He shouldn't have been left like that for family to find him, it was very undignified."

Mr. Gibbons, a truck driver, said his grandfather, who was in his late 80s, had been in hospital care for the past three or four years.

"He raised me and so was like my daddy," said Mr. Gibbons. "When they told me he had passed away it was such a shock, I dropped on the ground and started crying. I feel the hospital owes my family an answer and apology as to why they did not contact the next of kin. To then see my papa like that, it was overwhelming. I want to make sure this never happens to anyone else. No family should ever have to go through something like this."

Patrice Dill, chief operating officer (MWI and Continuing Care) said: "My deepest sympathies go to Mr. Gibbons and his family for their loss.

"While we cannot discuss individual patients, we do have a policy that is followed when a patient in our care passes away. The policy includes a clear process for contacting the patient's physician, next of kin, and then preparing the patient to be taken to the morgue by covering him or her with a sheet. We would ask Mr. Gibbons to contact the hospital with his complaint so that we can review this matter."