A VERDICT of misadventure was recorded on a woman who died at Bury General Hospital the day after having surgery for a gastric ulcer.

Spinster Eileen Robinson, (79), of Dawes Bank, Holcombe Old Road, Ramsbottom, had been admitted to hospital as a result of general debilitation, an inquest heard.

But after two weeks, she had to be transferred from Fairfield General to Bury General Hospital for life-saving emergency surgery after collapsing.

Bury District Coroner, Mr Barrie Williams, was told that Blackburn-born Miss Robinson had to be rushed to the theatre as the only hope of saving her life. The surgery was carried out but Miss Robinson, who was described as a frail lady, could not rally and died as a result of continuing loss of blood. Mr Williams said that death was a result of the aftermath of essential surgery but in reaching his verdict, it had to be pointed out that there was no lack of care and the operation, in which speed was of the essence, had been carried out with precision and in a technically correct manner. It was Miss Robinson's system which could not withstand the operative treatment.

It was always recognised as a high risk operation and in hindsight, Miss Robinson's two sisters had wondered whether it was right to put her through the procedure. But Mr Williams told Mrs Isobel Morris and Miss Jean Robinson of Beach Court, Lytham: "She would have died unless the surgery was undertaken and the doctors were trying to do their best. There can be no criticism of the surgery, which was correctly performed, even if it failed to prevent the gastric bleeding."

Miss Robinson had served with the Royal Artillery during the Second World War and had lived in Wiltshire and then at Holcombe Brook, where she had been a full time carer for her widowed mother until she died in 1983. She continued to live at Dawes Bank with her sister Jean, a nurse, and had enjoyed good health until recent years.