A PENSIONER suffered a 'catastrophic haemorrhage' soon after being sent home from Hereford hospital because there was no bed for her. An inquest heard how that bed would have made no difference to her death - but might have made those last hours easier, writes BILL TANNER.

And if the family of Beryl Griffiths believed that, said county coroner David Halpern, then they should 'pursue the avenues' that allowed them to say so.

The family heard hospital accident and emergency consultant Andrew Ballham apologise over the absence of any bed and admit that in the 'good old days' Mrs Griffiths would have stayed overnight for observation.

Because of the pressure on beds the night she presented with chest pains - and no evidence of the arterial rupture that was to cause her death - doctors decided to send her home.

It was there in Kingstone that she collapsed just over two hours later. Rushed back to A&E by ambulance, Mrs Griffiths died awaiting transfer to an emergency operation in Birmingham.

A tear to a blood vessel - probably the cause of the initial chest pain - became a 'catastrophic haemorrhage' that even a highly specialised surgery team would have limited time to correct - in favourable circumstances. No such team is on hand at Hereford.

The condition that cost Mrs Griffiths her life often defied diagnosis in presenting itself as an unrelated problem, said Mr Ballham. In that light the initial actions of A&E staff were 'quite reasonable'.

Her overnight admission had, he said, been discussed. But without evidence of a 'major arterial problem' and no beds available she was deemed suitable to send home. A bed, said Mr Ballham, would have made no difference to the outcome. Survival was 'very rare'. Mrs Griffiths' son-in-law Paul Wright, speaking for the family, said a bed would have made all the difference in terms of care - sparing her husband a harrowing ordeal.

In returning a verdict of death by natural causes, Mr Halpern said the initial diagnosis was 'appropriate to the circumstances' even if the return home was 'something to be regretted'.

"Bed pressures were such that (Mrs Griffiths) could not be kept in overnight. That is the situation in which medical staff operate."