Elderly woman died on operating table

As someone who hated hospital, the way Florence East died echoed one of her worst nightmares.

When the healthy 95-year-old fell and broke her leg on Boxing Day last year, little could she have known she would never leave hospital and would die six weeks later following complications during an unrelated operation.

An inquest heard on Wednesday last week (19), Mrs East, of Westbourne Road, Staines, died at St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, after a tiny hole was torn in her throat lining during an endoscopy - an exploratory operation into stomach problems she was having.

Woking Corner's Court was told by three consultants Mrs East suffered internal bleeding and blistered skin as air seeped into her flesh after the 2mm tear appeared when a camera was passed down her throat to investigate ulcers.

A post mortem revealed she died from the tear four days after the operation on February 16 and, speaking after the inquest, son Keith said: "She hated hospital and she was very unhappy there.

She was terrified. I thought she would never survive the leg operation but she did and I was amazed. I was so pleased she was getting better and then it all went wrong. She deserved better."

Mrs East, who moved to Staines during the Second World War, had lived alone since husband Kenneth died in 1997 but was visited daily by at least one of her four children.

The inquest heard she was admitted to St Peter's after being found by her eldest son Mr East, 59, on the floor of her home after breaking her leg.

She had an operation on the break and doctors were proposing sending her home when she suffered bouts of vomiting blood in late January. She had an initial endoscopy revealing she was suffering from stomach ulcers.

It was during a further check on February 12 the tear occurred and Mr East told the inquest of his shock when he visited the hospital later that day to be told his mother was too frail to survive a potentially life-saving operation.

"Two doctors broke the news that basically there was no hope for my mother and she was going to die," he said. "It came as a big shock to me she had gone in for a routine procedure and something had gone wrong."

• Verdict: Death as a result of complications during a necessary theraputic procedure.