A WOMAN died of sepsis shortly after surgery for a broken hip, an inquest heard.

But a coroner accepted the evidence of a senior medic that the operation had been a success and not the source of the infection.

June Griffiths, 76, died at the Countess of Chester Hospital on July 14 after her daughter had insisted that she should not return to Wrexham Maelor Hospital where the surgery had been carried out and where she felt the care had been sub-standard.

Mrs Griffiths, who was admitted to the Maelor after falling at her home in Dee Road, Connah’s Quay, was suffering from lung cancer and while in hospital developed a urinary tract infection.

A “nail” or pin, was inserted in her hip but she complained of severe abdominal pain. She was found to be suffering from solitis and her daughter Deborah Elson said in a statement that her leg was swollen and her skin was red.

She was discharged from Wrexham to Deeside Hospital before going to the Countess of Chester Hospital, where the wound was washed out twice. A CT scan then revealed infection around the nail, following which her condition deteriorated.

Following a post-mortem examination the cause of death was given as sepsis of the wound and cancer of the lung.

Questioned by solicitor Brian Cross, representing Mrs Elson, Edward Wood, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Chester, said the most likely scenario was that the infection had stemmed from the UTI as the surgery had gone well.

Mr Cross told the inquest in Ruthin: “The family feels that a failure to identify the infection in the early stages resulted in her death.

“If the swelling and reddening had been dealt with and the infection identified, then her death might have been delayed.”

Recording a narrative conclusion, David Pojur, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central, said it was “a very unfortunate set of circumstances”.