THE daughter of a Hexham woman who died in hospital over four years ago has finally had her concerns about the death addressed, during an inquest this week.

Ethel Maud Young (89), of Wydon Park, Hexham, died on May 18, 2012, at Hexham General Hospital.

At the inquest held on Tuesday, senior coroner Eric Armstrong recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.

He explained that a couple of weeks after Mrs Young’s death, her daughter came forward with concerns about how she died, prompting an inquest to be opened.

Mrs Young’s daughter, Alison Young, explained how her mother suffered from back pain, but she questioned the use of fentanyl patches as a pain treatment. She said her mother developed a rash while in hospital, vomited and suffered from constipation – and she therefore questioned whether this could be an allergic reaction.

She said: “Her pain score was zero in the medical notes. They put her on fentanyl patches, but according to the trust guidelines they should only be given when the pain score is 9 or 10.”

Home office pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton prepared a report following a post-mortem, and said that because Mrs Young had previously taken codeine, which is in the same family of drugs as fentanyl, it had been a relatively safe decision to give it to her.

She added: “I was not there, but the problem they have is if she was staying still and not moving around her pain would be zero but when they tried to move her it would not be zero anymore.

“Pain scores are taken in the position the patient was in at the time.

“While she was in hospital she apparently had a flare up of back pain. Doctors were trying to get her back up on her feet.”

Dr Bolton explained that slow release tablets would have been used, but because Mrs Young was struggling to sit up, she could have choked while swallowing them, so the patches were a suitable alternative.

Referring to any possible allergic reaction, Dr Bolton she could find no evidence. She concluded in her report that the cause of death was bronchopneumonia, due to obstructive pulmonary disease – a chest infection which had quickly taken hold of Mrs Young.

She said: “We as pathologists see it when clinical doctors don’t see it – a chest infection can develop in hours. Unfortunately, the older you are the more rapidly it comes up and because the organs are of a certain age it takes very little to tip the balance.

“It is something I see often. All of the findings I can see fit this description.”

Speaking to Miss Young, Mr Armstrong said: “You are concerned that drugs used at the same time caused the death, but so far nothing Dr Bolton has found contradicts her findings. It seems to be that we understand your concerns, but see no evidence to back them up.”