A PENSIONER died of heart failure after he was drip-fed saline solution more than six times faster than prescribed, an inquest heard yesterday.

Robert Leckenby, 79, was admitted to the University Hospital of North Tees in December 1998, after he vomited blood.

The inquest, before Teesside magistrates, heard that Dr Gillian Ingram, a specialist registrar in elderly care, and senior house officer Dr Rachel Sharples, prescribed three blood transfusions, to be followed by one litre of saline over six hours.

Consultant Dr Roger Huntingdon Smith, said he was told the following morning of the death of Mr Leckenby, of York Avenue, Horden, near Peterlee in County Durham.

He said:"Saline had flowed in within one hour, resulting in heart failure.

"I said it could have been a faulty giving set or a fault on the part of the nurse."

Staff nurse Andrea Clark worked the night shift on Mr Leckenby's ward. She said he was given the third bag of blood at 12am, which was still running through when she went on her break, at 4.40am.

Nurse Clark said Sister Sylvia Fay took over for a short time, and when she next checked Mr Leckenby, who had angina, at 5.35am, all the saline had gone through. His heart stopped, and despite efforts to save him, he died. Tests on the drip equipment showed it was working normally.

Sister Fay said in a statement that she had carefully checked the drip. She said: "I've been to hell and back going over and over this in my mind."

The inquest continues today.