IT is three years and three months since Elaine Basham died after a routine operation went tragically wrong.

But her family are still unable to move on with their lives because of the unanswered questions surrounding her death.

We are well used to the wheels grinding frustratingly slowly at the Department of Health, but it is simply not right for a grieving family to be kept in limbo for so long for an inquest to take place.

Were Government advisors right to tell surgeons to use new disposable surgical instruments over fears of spreading the human form of mad cow disease?

What risk assessments were carried out before the disposable instruments were brought into practice in the NHS?

Why did Elaine Basham die after a routine operation to remove her tonsils using those instruments?

These are all questions which still need to be answered but which will have to wait until the inquest can be re-arranged.

It was due to be held next Tuesday but has been postponed at ridiculously short notice to a date which the Department of Health cannot specify. The witnesses scheduled to attend next week will, like Elaine's family, have to go on waiting.

There has not even been an expression of regret from the Department of Health about the length of time it has taken.

When asked about the controversy, a spokeswoman said: "We cannot comment on this particular case until the inquest has concluded."

And who knows when that might be?