A Keighley granddad’s hospital care while waiting for emergency surgery was so full of errors it was like a “Swiss cheese”, a hospital boss told an inquest yesterday.

Dr Andrew Catto, executive medical director at Airedale General Hospital, Steeton, said a major investigation had taken place following the death of Matloub Hussain, 50, in October 2011.

And Airedale Hospital Trust had taken the “extraordinary step” of referring itself for the review of its actions by the Royal College of Surgeons.

Dr Catto said the trust had “turned the mirror on itself” after Mr Matloub’s “deeply regrettable” death in the pre-op room shortly before delayed surgery to drain a septic boil on his bottom.

The inquest heard Mr Matloub had been given antibiotics and painkillers when he went to A&E a week earlier but returned with the problem and was admitted on October 14 to get the boil drained.

But surgery was put off that night because of concerns Mr Matloub, of Devonshire Street, had been drinking and it was felt it would be too risky to go ahead.

The inquest heard how the next day theatre schedules were jammed and that numerous doctors who assessed him all failed to recognise the severity of his condition as he deteriorated.

It was early on October 16 that Mr Matloub died from septic shock ahead of his operation.

Dr Catto told the hearing: “It was like the Swiss cheese of error. There were failures on the part of clinicians to see the seriousness of things but also the theatres were jammed, they were busy. It was a combination of clinician and system failures.”

He said there had been “no surprises” in the recommendations that came back from the Royal College of Surgeons’ review and that action plans had since been formed and were well on the way to being completed.

The review looked at systems in place at Airedale that cover what happens to a patient once admitted for emergency surgery.

Recording a narrative verdict, Assistant Deputy Coroner Caroline Sumeray said: “Matloob Hussain’s death was contributed to by neglect in that there was an opportunity for rendering care which, if taken, would have prevented his death on the balance of probabilities.”

Speaking after the inquest Mr Matloub’s daughter, Shehzana Hussain, said: “We are satisfied the hospital has shown regret and taken a good look at what went wrong so that it hopefully does not happen to anyone else.”