A hospital apologised yesterday for its failings after a patient jumped to her death.

Lady Fiona Baker, 57, threw herself off the roof of a building at Addenbrooke's hospital, Cambridge, in April, 90 minutes after asking a doctor for directions to a tall building she could jump off.

Addenbrooke's offered its apologies to Lady Baker's husband, a Cambridge University law professor, Sir John Baker, for mistakes made.

"We would like to offer our deepest and sincerest apologies to the family for the failings in her care prior to her death," said a hospital spokeswoman.

"Although this in no way compensates the family for their loss, we hope they are reassured that we have carried out a full internal investigation into the events leading up to Lady Baker's death to identify failings on our part and are currently addressing these."

At an inquest last week in Cambridge, hospital officials said Lady Baker was being treated for delusions and hallucinations as a result of alcohol withdrawal.

The inquest heard evidence from a doctor who told how Lady Baker had asked "if we could direct her to a tall building so she could jump off".

Around 90 minutes later Lady Baker was discovered at the foot of a hospital building with multiple injuries.

The hospital said that an investigation into the events leading up to Lady Baker's death had identified a number of failings.

A fax from a GP warning that Lady Baker was feeling suicidal had been lost. Staff had also forgotten to give Lady Baker a dose of medication.

The inquest had heard that the doctor she had spoken to when asking for directions had advised staff not to let Lady Baker leave the ward and to allocate a nurse to stay with her.

Sir John was unavailable for comment last night but he told the Cambridge Evening News: "The death of my wife was an appalling and preventable tragedy."

He added: "It is imperative that measures are taken to ensure against the occurrence of such a nightmare whether at Addenbrooke's or elsewhere."

The inquest into Lady Baker's death was adjourned until a later date and the coroner has yet to record a verdict.