A SECURITY review is today under way at a psychiatric hospital after a patient absconded and broke into a nearby house.

Dave Kerby and his son Matthew, 7, were confronted by the female patient in the living room of their home in Knowle, near Wickham.

The woman had earlier run away from a supervisor in the grounds of Ravenswood House, which is about 500 yards away.

It is the third time a patient has escaped from the medium-secure hospital in the past 15 months.

In July last year Gary Grey stabbed a 12-year-old boy after taking him hostage in Lordshill in Southampton.

Weeks later Shane Cooper, who was awaiting sentence for imprisoning a doctor in his flat for three hours, fled after smashing a ward window.

He was jailed for eight years following the original incident, while Grey was detained indefinitely at a high-security site.

The probe at Ravenswood comes as the Daily Echo is highlighting concerns over care at the Royal South Hants Hospital in Southampton following the deaths of four psychiatric patients this year.

Mr Kerby, 37, of Knowle Avenue, is demanding an inquiry into the latest incident.

A police spotter plane and sniffer dogs were despatched to the area after the hospital reported that the patient was missing.

Mr Kerby was in the kitchen with wife Sharon, 35, when their son Matthew called from the living room to say a woman was knocking at their back door.

He then went into the kitchen and when the family returned to the lounge, they discovered the woman standing there shivering, having let herself in.

Mr Kerby said: "It was quite scary. She was shivering and seemed very nervous and kept saying that she had had an argument.

"We were totally taken aback. We thought at first she might be someone who lived in the road and had been involved in an accident."

Mr Kerby then noticed several police officers in neighbouring back gardens and went outside.

Officers ordered the family to leave the home while they and Ravenswood staff went into the house and escorted the woman away about ten minutes later.

Mr Kerby said he has been invited to the hospital for a meeting to discuss Sunday afternoon's incident.

He said: "There are a lot of questions we want answering. This is the third time recently that someone has got out."

Malcolm Campbell, service manager at Ravenswood House, said they would be reviewing its procedures to try to prevent a repeat.

He added that extensive risk assessments were carried out before allowing patients into the grounds of the hospital.