A GRIEVING family is seeking answers after the sudden death of a much-loved wife, mother and grandmother at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

Pamela Brooks, 65, suffered a stroke at her home in Highcliffe at around 10 o'clock on the morning of Sunday June 11. Her husband, retired lorry driver Jim, 67, realised what had happened and immediately dialled 999.

Her family, including son Mike Dean, are now questioning her subsequent treatment after reading in the Daily Echo that patients identified as suffering an acute stroke should be scanned soon after arriving at one of the county's three hospitals, to see if they are suitable for clot-busting drugs. The treatment has to be administered within three hours.

Mrs Brooks was taken by ambulance to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. Mr Brooks said: "We arrived around 10.30am, but it was a good two hours before she saw a doctor. Nothing seemed urgent."

His wife was transferred to the acute admission unit, then admitted to the stroke unit at midnight. She remained conscious and lucid throughout Sunday and Monday. "They said they would scan her on Monday morning, but it wasn't done until Tuesday," said Mr Brooks.

Later that day, Mrs Brooks' condition deteriorated and she passed away on Thursday June 15. Her husband said: "All I felt was that there was no urgency. When they said she wouldn't recover it was a bombshell.

"We were together for 50 years. I've been a month without her and I don't stop thinking of her for a second. It's heartbreaking."

The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Foundation Trust declined to comment because an official complaint has been made.