MORE than a year after a Loftus family were promised a full inquest into their daughter's death after routine surgery, officials have confirmed it will take place later this year.

The family of Elaine Basham, 33, believe the full jury inquest may help to explain why their daughter died.

Her death cast doubt on the safety of disposable surgical instruments, brought in because of fears that reusable instruments might be spreading variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease. The inquest will be held in October at the earliest.

Miss Basham died in November 2001 after an operation to remove her tonsils and adenoids at the now-closed North Riding Infirmary, in Middlesbrough. She was twice returned to theatre as efforts were made to stop bleeding, but died ten days later.

Five months earlier, a two-year-old boy from Cheshire, died after surgery involving similar instruments.

The deaths led the Department for Health to tell surgeons not to use the instruments, which seal wounds by means of a heating element.

Solicitor Richard Follis, who acts for both families, said: "The Department of Health has refused to hold an inquiry into the role of single-use instruments in the death of patients. This inquest is sadly the only chance the family will have to discover why tried and tested instruments were discarded in favour of largely untested disposable equipment."