A WOMAN was left on a hospital trolley for three hours after her bowel was ripped open during a routine scan, an inquest heard.

Great-grandmother Marie Barlow, 82, of Cobden Street, Bacup, died in Burnley General Hospital on January 11 after failing to recover from surgery to repair the tear.

But she had been left on a trolley at Rossendale General Hospital - where the first procedure was carried out - for three hours, before being transferred to Burnley for the emergency surgery.

The hospital has now launched an investigation after the family submitted a formal complaint.

East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor recorded a verdict of death by misadventure, because the procedure which caused the bowel perforation had not been a life-saving operation, but the mistake ultimately led to her death because she was too ill to survive the operation to repair it.

Her family said afterwards it had been "like a comedy of errors" as Mrs Barlow waited in a corridor, but was then transferred to Burnley by a high-speed ambulance with blue lights flashing.

The inquest heard that widow Mrs Barlow - who ran the White Horse pub, Helmshore, for more than 20 years with her husband Walter - had first complained of illness a year before her death, and had stayed in hospital twice as well as being visited regularly by her GP.

She had been in hospital for more than two weeks at the end of last year when an inflammation in her bowel, was diagnosed and doctors recommended a colonoscopy to investigate.

But she was sent home and booked in as an outpatient at Rossendale General Hospital for the procedure.

Consultant Charles Grimley told the inquest he had delayed the colonoscopy until after Mrs Barlow was released from hospital, to give the bowel infection time to heal and give doctors more chance of using the camera probe without causing damage.

He said he had difficulty with the colonoscopy and knew straight away that the procedure had damaged the bowel. He organised anti-biotics as well as an emergency bowel resection operation. He said the perforated part of the large intestine had been in the lower area, so the delay had not contributed to her death.

Pathologist Jane Edwards said the fight to recover from the emergency operation had put extra strain on Mrs Barlow's already weak heart, and she died as a result.

Her daughter Rosalie Driver said after the inquest: "It might not have physically contributed to her death, but the stress definitely weakened her, as it would anyone.

"And if they had done the colonoscopy months before when she was first ill none of this might have happened."

Lynn Wissett, director of clinical care and governance at Burnley General Hospital, said they were investigating the family's complaint.

She added: "The coroner accepted that any perceived delay did not cause Mrs Barlow's death.

"The Trust acknowledges the Coroner's verdict and wishes to offer its sincere condolences to Mrs Barlow's family."