AN INVESTIGATION is under way after a pregnant woman who suffered a 34-hour wait on a trolley at a Kent hospital died after being sent home without treatment. Tina Norris was doubled up in pain as she waited in the casualty department at the Darent Valley Hospital at Dartford.

She feared blood clots in her leg would endanger her unborn child. A senior doctor said she would be admitted to hospital at once, but the next day, still with no bed available, Mrs Norris, 29, was told by a nursing sister that she could home if she took medication.

Three days later, after doctors at Gillingham's Medway Maritime Hospital battled to save her, she was dead. Her husband Len, a 38-year-old sales and marketing director from the Isle of Sheppey, is now considering taking legal action against the hospital. He claimed it was a complete blunder which the hospital was now trying to sweep under the carpet.

Mrs Norris' ordeal began in July when the pains in her left leg started when she was five weeks pregnant. She had a history of blood clots and when the pain became unbearable she went to hospital where a scan found two clots in her leg. She was told to stay in hospital. But the following evening, 34 hours after arriving at the hospital, Mrs Norris was examined by a sister and told she could go home as long as she injected herself with an anti coagulant drug to thin her blood.

Three days later Mrs Norris collapsed and she was taken to the Medway Maritime Hospital where doctors fought for 90 minutes to save her. She died a day before her second wedding anniversary.

Mr Norris said: "We had everything going for us - a new home, a baby on the way and I had just started a new job. Now I don't have any interest in anything."

A spokesman for Dartford and Gravesham Trust confirmed an inquiry had already started. He added: "Once this (the inquiry) has been concluded and all of the facts have been established we will, of course, be disclosing this information to Mr Norris directly. The trust offers its sincere condolences to Mr Norris and his family."