Christine Elizabeth Leatt, 68, of Victor Gardens, Hornchurch, died at the hospital on December 8 after being admitted with “traumatic injury” caused during a fall.
A brief court hearing to open her inquest this week heard that her husband Vincent had written to the coroner to raise concerns about her care.
He handed a letter in at the start of the hearing.
“Had she been monitored, would alarms have gone off and then could they have resuscitated her earlier?” Mr Leatt asked, after the coroner read the letter.
He said he would like answers, “even if it saves somebody else in the future”.
The inquest opening was presided over by senior coroner Graeme Irvine at East London Coroner’s Court in Walthamstow on Monday, January 6.
“At the present time, I’m not sure if I share your concerns,” he told Mr Leatt.
“However, I think it is important that I go into this with an open mind and I ask the questions.”
Mr Irvine said Mrs Leatt had died from a bleed into the area surrounding her heart, and into her chest, when her aorta was dissected. She had also suffered fractured ribs.
The injuries were incurred in a fall, but the circumstances were not detailed at the short hearing.
The coroner did note that Mrs Leatt had suffered from osteogenis imperfecta – also known as brittle bone disease.
He asked Mrs Leatt’s family to provide a background statement which included a chronology of the fall and her treatment.
“If there is any more information about the fall or about the treatment thereafter that you feel is pertinent, please let me know,” he said.
“If you have any concerns about the way that Mrs Leatt was treated or any other issues that potentially impacted upon her death, then I want to hear about them.”
In light of Mr Leatt’s concerns, he said, he would demand “a statement from a senior nurse on the ward to give an explanation as to the extent of nursing care for Mrs Leatt”.
He also ordered the hospital’s clinical records, a statement from the consultant responsible for her care, the ambulance service’s notes and a written summary of Mrs Leatt’s medical history from her GP.
Kathryn Halford, chief nurse at the Barking, Havering and Redbrige University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT), said: “We are very sorry to hear of Mr Leatt’s concerns about his wife’s care and will fully cooperate with the coroner in their investigation.”
The final inquest was scheduled for June 26.
