Derriford Hospital inquest adjourned for jury
Muriel Elliott, 78, from Plymstock, died 13 days after a feeding tube was wrongly inserted into her lung instead of her stomach.
The grandmother, who had suffered a stroke following heart bypass surgery, died from pneumonia in September 2007.
An inquest into her death, due to be held yesterday, was adjourned after Mrs Elliott's family repeatedly requested that it be heard in front of a jury as well as a coroner.
Her son-in-law, Brian Gerrish, from Yealmpton, said they wanted the "full truth" about how she died.
He told a hearing yesterday that questions need to be answered about what he described as a "catalogue of mistakes", staffing, "woefully inadequate" record taking, an inability to tell which doctor and nurses had been on duty and the speed of an internal investigation.
After almost two hours of legal discussions, Plymouth coroner Ian Arrow said: "In the interests of justice, it appears to me I should adjourn this inquest to summon a jury."
He said that, as well as answering who the deceased was, and how, when and where they met their death: "The purpose of an inquest can also be to allay fears and suspicions, and clearly there are matters that are raising some fears."
He said it appears that if there was any recurrence of the events which it has been reported took place, it could result in further deaths.
Mr Arrow said: "It appears to me that if I was to sit with a jury that would eliminate any difficulty that might be raised as to whether this inquest had been conducted openly and publicly."
He added: "I am sorry we are adjourning. We have all heard why we are adjourning and I hope it means we can bring matters to a speedy conclusion in March."
Mr Gerrish and his lay legal advisor Lee Finn had argued a jury must be summoned by law.
They quoted Health and Safety Executive guidance which stated a jury must be summoned if "the death occurred in circumstances, the continuation or possible recurrence of which are prejudicial to the health and safety of the public or any section of the public".
The guidance also said a jury must be present if there is reason to suspect a death was caused by an accident which should be reported to a Government Department.
Mr Gerrish said the hospital should have reported his mother-in-law's death to the Health and Safety Executive, but Derriford's legal representative and solicitors for medical staff maintained it was not a "reportable" death.
Mr Gerrish said: "From the family's point of view, we would like the truth, the full truth of this incident to come out and we want the general public to become fully aware of it."
He added that they wanted assurances that the hospital has put any necessary corrective action in place. Mrs Elliott had four children, including Mr Gerrish's wife Gill.
As reported in May 2008, Mr Arrow asked police to investigate the case.
The Crown Prosecution Service in November last year said conflicting evidence from witnesses over the incident led it to discontinue the case.
A spokesperson for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust said: "The coroner has decided to adjourn to allow a jury to hear this inquest. We respect that decision and will present all the evidence we have before the inquest in March. We will try and use this opportunity to answer as many questions as we can and allay any concerns."
The four-day inquest is due to be heard from March 2 in Plymouth. Witnesses are set to include Derriford Hospital doctors, nurses and senior managers.
