A WOMAN died from blood clots that were not detected by hospital staff, an inquest heard.
Hilda Howard, 81, died in Dewsbury District Hospital on December 7.
The Huddersfield inquest heard that Mrs Howard, of Dewsbury, was admitted to the hospital on December 2 after months of feeling unwell.
She was not eating properly and doctors found she had a stomach problem. She had an operation to correct this.
Surgeons noticed a tear inside her stomach. They repaired it in a second operation.
But Mrs Howard stayed unwell and was moved to the high- dependency unit where she died.
The inquest heard that she died from a pulmonary embolism - a blood clot in the lung - due to deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Pathologist Philip Batman said Mrs Howard had had a clot in her left calf at least a week before she died.
A consultant surgeon at the Dewsbury hospital, Mr Clive White, said there was not time for nurses to carry out a DVT risk assessment on Mrs Howard as she was admitted as an emergency.
Coroner Roger Whittaker said the clotting had clearly set in before she went into hospital.
In a narrative verdict he said: "Mrs Howard's death was not related to the surgical procedure, but it went back in time.
"Any invasive procedure to remove the clots would have been bound to cause her death.
"It is clear no-one contemplated she was suffering from DVT and a pulmonary embol- ism."
He added that even if the symptoms had of been recognised at that stage her life could not have been saved.
