Hospital check led to woman’s death

Oct 9 2008 by Emma Davison, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A CROSLAND Moor woman died in hospital on Boxing Day following a routine medical procedure, an inquest heard.

Margaret Gillespie, 74, died at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary last Christmas days after being admitted with chest pains.

During an angiogram to check the extent of the damage caused to her heart, her artery was torn and she suffered blood loss. She died when her condition deteriorated two days later.

The Huddersfield inquest heard that Mrs Gillespie had suffered a heart attack three years previously, but after experiencing further problems with her heart was admitted into hospital where doctors discovered she had had another heart attack.

On Christmas Eve, an angiogram was carried out to look inside her coronary arteries to see how severe the damage was and what further treatment was needed.

The procedure involved inserting a thin plastic tube into the artery through the groin. A special dye is then injected and a series of X-ray images are taken.