AN inquest has been opened into the death of a woman at the Great Western Hospital after her family claimed she hadn’t received proper care.

Yesterday marked the first session of the two-day inquest into the death of Christina Withey who died on September 15, 2015, at the age of 70.

Mrs Withey’s family claim that her death was the direct result of poor care she received while being treated at GWH during her five-day stay up until her death.

The jury of five men and four women was sworn in yesterday and Ian Singleton, assistant coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, immediately began outlining the case.

He explained that the aim of the inquest was to look in detail at the care Mrs Withey received to see if it contributed in any way to her death.

The jury heard that Mrs Withey and husband James, of Morie Close, Sparcells, arrived at the GWH’s A&E department on the afternoon of September 10, 2015, after Mrs Withey reported suffering severe abdominal pain.

Mrs Withey had struggled with alcohol over the years, but that had apparently been brought under control in the last five years of her life. The court heard that Mrs Witney was previously fit and healthy.

In a statement read to the court by Mr Singleton, Mrs Withey’s son Gary Withey described his mother as having to wait in A&E for three and a half hours while in “a great deal of pain” and “burning up” with a high temperature.

It was suggested that, once placed on a ward, the only painkillers Mrs Withey was given were paracetamol, which had little or no effect.

Gary Withey said: “Nursing care over the weekend was poor. No one cared whether my mother ate or not and we had to keep asking for the water jug to be filled.

“No one stood back and looked at the patient as a person. No one saw my mother regularly and recognised her symptoms were getting worse. Three ward moves only added to her state of confusion.

"Pain management was never addressed as paracetamol was the only thing given.”

In response, the jury heard from doctors and nursing staff who had been involved in caring for Mrs Withey.

Erin Rose, who first saw the patient when she arrived at the hospital on September 10, struggled to recall events and had to be prompted by the notes she had made at the time.

She said: “When I saw Mrs Withey she was stable and all her observations were in range.”

The court heard that Mrs Withey had been suffering from the early onset of dementia and was prone to bouts of confusion.

Ms Rose said she hadn’t been aware of any confusion on the part of the patient.

Alan O’Beirne, the solicitor representing the GWH, asked Ms Rose how many patients she would expect to see in a normal 12-hour shift.

“More than 100,” was the response, outlining to the jury the difficulty in remembering each and every patient.

Mrs Withey’s husband, James, appeared unimpressed with the other pieces of evidence he heard, shaking his head in disagreement.

The court heard that Mrs Withey died on September 15 after going into cardiac arrest.

Doctors thought that due to her delicate stomach and fragile state, attempting CPR would be too risky were she again to need resuscitation.

The inquest is expected to finish today.