A PRIVATE hospital has paid a five-figure sum in an out-of-court settlement to a widower whose wife died following a routine operation.

John Roddy, aged 75, has battled for the truth ever since the death of his wife Mary after a knee operation in June 2010.

Mrs Roddy, aged 78, was admitted to the Beaumont Hospital in Chorley New Road for the surgery but was transferred to Royal Bolton Hospital's high dependency when her blood pressure dropped and she suffered a 'cardiac episode'. She died eight days later.

A letter sent from the hospital's solicitors to Mr Roddy's solicitors, Linder Myers, states: "We confirm it is conceded that with appropriate care, on the balance of probabilities, the deceased would have survived."

Mr Roddy said: "I was adamant to take it all the way because I knew they were at fault. By hook or by crook I wanted to get justice for Mary.

"It isn't about the money — it never was. It has taken a four year battle for them to finally admit they were in the wrong."

At her inquest, the cause of death was recorded as multiple organ failure and although area coroner Alan Walsh did not believe that Mrs Roddy's death was a result of treatment she received at Beaumont, he recorded a narrative verdict and highlighted staffing issues.

But Mr Roddy, of Mossfield Road, Kearsley, says that the coroner did not have all the information surrounding her death, including nurses' notes from Beaumont — part of BMI Healthcare — which he has since acquired.

He also paid for top doctors and consultants to write reports on the case, where one said that her lungs were "grossly overloaded" with fluid and the hypovolemic diagnosis was "totally inaccurate".

Mr McLaren, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, said that the two units of gelofusine used in a very short space of time "tipped Mrs Roddy's heart and lungs into a pathological state from which there was no return."

Another, Dr Tim Cripps, a specialist cardiologist wrote that "earlier recognition of a cardiac problem would have allowed effective treatment and she probably would not have died."

Mr Roddy said: "The operation itself was a success — but when her blood pressure dropped that's when it all went wrong and she had some kind of cardiac arrest.

"By the time they sent her to Royal Bolton it was too late."

Mr Roddy, who works three days a week at a charity shop in Newport Street, said: "I never left her side in that hospital — or ever. We were inseparable. I knew she was not well when she was in Beaumont, but they left her too long before transferring her to Royal Bolton.

"Mary was an amazing person and everybody knew her and loved her. I have lost my wife and best friend.

"For the last five years I have been after answers for my wife — and now I hope I get some closure."

A spokesman for The Beaumont Hospital said: "Following the conclusion of legal matters we have written to Mr Roddy to apologise for failings in the care of his wife. We always strive to provide the best care to our patients and accept that in the case of Mrs Roddy we fell short of the standards we aspire to."