A GRANDMOTHER died as a result of a hospital blunder as doctors prepared her for surgery, an inquest heard.

Grandmother-of-seven Patricia Gilby was admitted to Southampton General Hospital after complaining of severe abdominal pain and breathlessness.

But as doctors got her ready for a colonoscopy, they inserted a tube into the wrong place in her neck and failed to notice their mistake until nearly ten minutes later.

Southampton Coroner’s Court heard the delay in spotting the error was due to a failure by staff to carry out two simple checks, commonly used to test if central venous lines are inserted correctly.

Doctors admitted their mistake the next day and Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust (SUHT) confirmed improvements have been made following a full investigation.

The court was told how the 60-year-old from Dunkirk Road, Southampton, died on September 9, 2009, three days after being admitted to hospital, seriously ill due to several major organ systems failing.

Southampton Coroner Keith Wiseman gave a narrative verdict and said he was pleased that the hospital accepted their mistake the next morning.

After the inquest her son Richard said: “I just want to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”