A VALE grandmother died within days of receiving a routine vitamin injection at her doctors' surgery, an inquest heard.

Rita Mary Whitehouse, aged 71, from Bredon Mews, Broadway, collapsed and died at her home on May 24, last year.

Four days earlier, she had been administered with a B12 injection at the village's Barn Close Surgery.

The patient, who suffered from arthritis, had routinely been given the jabs for around two years.

Mrs Whitehouse became ill with sickness and diarrhoea on May 23,and was visited twice by her doctor who gave her a course of antibiotics.

But her condition failed to improve and paramedics were called to the house the next day, where attempts to revive Mrs Whitehouse failed. Pathology reports showed cause of death as streptococcal septicaemia.

Norma Mason, the practice nurse who gave Mrs Whitehouse the injection, gave evidence at the Stourport inquest yesterday.

The nurse, who has been qualified for more than 25 years, said: "I had only just started work at the surgery but I had given this injection to many other people before.

"I remember no problems at all. If I had thought the needle was contaminated I certainly would have discarded it and applied a new needle."

'Wrong'

Mrs Whitehouse's husband John, speaking during the hearing, said: "I am completely at a loss because I just can't start to understand what has gone wrong. Something obviously has gone wrong somewhere."

Recording a verdict of misadventure, coroner Victor Round said: "It is a most unusual case.

"We're not unused to infection arising somewhere in the course of operations. The only way I can describe it is incredibly bad luck.

"Nobody did anything that was unintended and I've come to the conclusion it would be wrong to describe this as an accidental death as there has not been an accident.

"This is the unintended consequence of an intended action," he added.