The death of a patient - who was denied a CT scan because it was the weekend - occurred after hospital failings, an inquest has heard.

Sandra Wood was 69 when she died at Maidstone Hospital on April 18 last year from a bowel obstruction.

She had been taken to Tunbridge Wells Hospital the previous day after she began vomiting a brown fluid.

Today, an inquest at Gravesend Old Town Hall heard she died of natural causes as a consequence of the failure by the Tunbridge Wells Hospital to correctly diagnose and treat her.

When Miss Wood, a retired shop assistant from Rochester, was seen at Tunbridge Wells Hospital on April 17, she was initially discharged with a diagnosis of constipation and a urinary tract infection.

A doctor requested a CT scan to rule out bowel tumours or abnormalities but explained it could not be carried out until April 19 due to the fact it was a weekend.

CT scans, the inquest heard, could only be carried out during emergency investigations.

She was sent home with paracetamol despite her full symptoms being explained and a letter being sent by her GP correctly diagnosing her and divulging her full medical history.

But the following day, she was found collapsed on her bathroom floor by her son. The inquest heard she could not speak and an ambulance was called.

She suffered a cardiac arrest and died at Maidstone Hospital.

Senior coroner for North West Kent, Roger Hatch, has told the NHS trust it needs to take action to prevent future deaths.

He said: "It is highly unsatisfactory that facilities for a CT scan to be carried out at the weekend at Tunbridge Wells hospital are not routinely available without having to go through a number of steps for this to be arranged.

"In this case the delay until the Monday was critical as the outcome has sadly demonstrated."

In a statement, Miss Wood’s daughter Amanda Sparkes said: “The coroner has now confirmed what we always suspected; the hospital’s policy not to carry out a scan caused this tragedy.

“It is devastating to think that had my mum been given the treatment she deserved she would have survived.

“It adds to our grief that had we not fought for answers and an inquest, we suspect this would have been put down as just another unfortunate death and there would have been no pressure to find out what went wrong.

“It’s too late for us, but we believe anybody else could go into that hospital and get the same poor level of treatment. That’s totally unacceptable. Lessons must be learnt, the trust must accept the coroner’s recommendations and do everything in its power to stop this from happening again.”

Tim Deeming, a clinical negligence specialist lawyer at Slater and Gordon, who represents the family, said: “This case illustrates of how a policy can have a tragic outcome and the coroner has demanded urgent action to prevent future deaths.

“It is devastating to think that had my mum been given the treatment she deserved she would have survived" - Sandra Wood's daughter Amanda Sparkes

“It has been extremely distressing for Miss Wood’s family to sit through this inquest and to repeat how she was so badly let down in her most desperate hours of need.

“The coroner’s findings are critical, both with regards to the policy for scanning and turning Mrs Wood away at midnight on a Friday.

“The GPs had referred Miss Wood having diagnosed suspected bowel complications and the coroner is clear that she should have been admitted to Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury and an urgent CT scan carried out, rather than discharging her with a diagnosis of a UTI.

“This tragedy must be a catalyst for improvements so that processes are put in place - both at the trust, and across the NHS - to prevent a similar incident happening to another family.”

A spokesman for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said: “We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to Mrs Wood’s family.

“To provide absolute clarity, we carry out CT scans at weekends and overnight. This is based on individual clinical need following careful clinical assessment.

“If it is clinically believed, following assessment, that a patient requires a CT scan, this will be undertaken.

“Over the weekend of 18 and 19 April 2015, we carried out 139 CT scans.”