A HOSPITAL where a young man died from a heart condition after being treated for stress has been told: You failed.

The criticism came at an inquest on Kyle Asquith, 19, from Ravensthorpe.

Coroner Roger Whittaker said Dewsbury District Hospital failed to make sure that Kyle was seen by the correct consultants.

Recording a verdict of death by natural causes, he said there would have been a "slim chance" of saving Kyle's life if he had been transferred to Leeds General Infirmary (LGI), where he had been previously treated for his condition.

The Bradford inquest was held after Kyle's family started a campaign - Justice for Kyle.

His grandmother, Jackie Frost, said: "I don't know why it's taken so long.

"It's just been agony. We've not been able to move on. We've just waited and waited."

The inquest was told Kyle died in the hospital's coronary care unit on June 16, 2002, after the main artery from the heart split.

He had been taken to the hospital's accident and emergency department the previous morning after getting chest, neck and back pain and vomiting during the night.

In 1992, at the age of nine, Kyle had one of his heart valves replaced with an artificial one.

David Currie, a consultant in respiratory medicine, who examined Kyle on his transfer to the coronary care unit, said he felt a major element of Kyle's pain was fear and anxiety.

He examined Kyle carefully for a split artery, but found no evidence of one.

He added: "With hindsight, I would suggest that some of the pain was due to this. I wish I had spoken to Leeds, but at the time I didn't think it was necessary."

Dr Michael Blackburn, a paediatric cardiologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, had dealt with Kyle since 1992.

He said he could have been operated on at LGI within 90 minutes if he had been sent.

Mr Whittaker urged new procedures at the Dewsbury hospital. He is to write to the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

The trust said later that urgent actions were being put in place.