An ’intelligent and conscientious’ mental health nurse died after suffering a heart attack following keyhole surgery.

Aimee Woodward died, with her parents at her side, in the intensive care unit at Noble’s Hospital on August 9, 2017, after her life support machine was switched off. She was 32.

Her death came eight days after she unexpectedly suffered a cardiac arrest on ward 4 the morning after undergoing keyhole surgery to remove an ovarian cyst.

Recording a narrative verdict, Coroner John Needham ruled out as not applicable an additional finding of negligence, saying he had not detected any systemic failures that caused or contributed to the death.

He paid tribute to the medical staff who tried to save her following what he described as a ’rare and traumatic’ medical emergency but added that ’regrettably, Aimee was beyond all help’. Mr Needham said, however, there had been certain aspects of her care that were ’not ideal’ including a metal guide wire being left in her body while a catheter was inserted following her cardiac arrest.

But he said he was satisfied this had not affected her clinical outcome.

Glasgow-born Aimee, of Peel Road, Douglas, was a registered nurse at Manannan Court acute mental health unit.

Addressing Aimee’s parents, the Coroner said: ’She was an intelligent and conscientious mental health nurse who cared a lot about her job.’

Paying his condolences, he said they had lost their daughter in the ’prime of her life’.

The inquest heard that there was no indication that Aimee had been suffering from any serious life-threatening condition and there was no suggestion she wasn’t fit enough to undergo the planned operation to remove a cyst on her left ovary.

Neither was there evidence that the operation was not necessary.

She was admitted to ward 4 on July 31, 2017 and underwent keyhole surgery that afternoon.

The operation took longer than expected due to low oxygen saturation and the level of bleeding because of the location of the cyst.

Surgeons had to remove the ovary and fallopian tube. But there were no cardiac-related issues throughout the procedure.

Aimee’s condition continued to improve and she was moved back into a sideroom on ward 4 where regular monitoring was carried out overnight.

She seemed settled, had a cup of tea at 4am, and was using her mobile.

But when a nurse went in to check on her just after 6am, she found the patient unresponsive, not breathing and with no pulse.

Emergency

A code one medical emergency was called and CPR begun. Medics managed to get her breathing again but sadly her condition deteriorated on transfer to the intensive care unit.

She passed away at 6.15pm on August 9 after it was agreed that active treatment should be withdrawn and her ventilator switched off.

Cause of death was established as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy - brain damage - due to cardiac arrest.

The Coroner said he could not be 100% sure about the exact cause of the cardiac arrest although on the balance of probabilities it might have been due to an underlying heart abnormality referred to as a left bundle branch block.

None of the interventions in ICU were below the level of competent clinical procedures, Mr Needham found.

Speaking after the inquest, Aimee’s mother Margaret said: ’We are extremely disappointed with the verdict and during the inquest there were several inconsistencies.

’We intend to let as many people as we can know about the goings on at Noble’s that have not been exposed.’

The Department of Health and Social Care said it ’profoundly regrets’ Aimee’s unexpected death.

It said had undertaken a detailed investigation and commissioned an external review - and said any measures introduced will continue to be monitored and audited.