A GRIEF-STRICKEN man trying to find out what caused the death of his sister shortly after a routine operation has taken the case to the highest level of government.

Bernard Bloom has spent the last eight years of his life trying to establish why his sister Carmel, 54, died after having a kidney stone removed at the BUPA (now Spire) Roding Hospital in Clayhall in 2002.

He now faces the harrowing possibility of having the body of his sister, who lived in Snakes Lane East in Woodford Green, exhumed so that a fresh inquest can take place, but hopes that he will able to get answers without it.

Ilford North MP Lee Scott, who represents Carmel Bloom's former constituency, has taken the case to Lord Chancellor Ken Clarke, in light of fresh evidence provided by a whistle-blower who claims to have inside knowledge of what happened on the day she died.

Mr Scott said: “I met Ken Clarke on Wednesday and talked him through my concerns about the case, and I will be having more meetings with the Ministry of Justice because they have a whole list of questions about the situation.

“I'm not going to let this go because something doesn't smell right with this. Carmel was in for a routine operation and I haven't been able to find another instance of someone dying while having the same operation.

“There are people who say they weren't present when she died and then say they were present in evidence later and all sorts of things like that. The General Medical Council [GMC] has found so many things with the case that just don't add up.

“Unfortunately, because it might well end up going through the courts, it looks like it's going to take quite a while.

“My heart goes out to Bernard and his family. I'm not going to let this go until we have a conclusion, because it's eating Bernard up inside.

“We need to make sure that this doesn't happen again.”

A GMC Fitness to Practise hearing in February this year resulted in two of the doctors involved with her operation admitting to serious professional failings in her treatment, but were allowed to continue practising medicine.

Mr Bloom, 59, of High Road, Chigwell, said while he was glad the case was being kept in the public eye, he was certain that there was still a long way to go before his questions were answered.

He said: “The police have been given a stack of evidence by Lee Scott and they still haven't come back to him or me to say what they're doing about it, if anything.

“We've put in a request for a new inquest with the Attorney General because we believe the last verdict was unsafe, and that evidence was withheld from the jury.”