A consultant who advised that a drug containing penicillin be prescribed to tragic mum Teresa Innes was not told she had a severe allergy, an inquest heard yesterday.

John Griffith, a consultant surgeon at Bradford Royal Infirmary, told the coroner he had not seen her notes when he recommended she be prescribed Magna-pen, which led to a fatal reaction.

During his ward round Mr Griffith said he spoke to Miss Innes but she had not told him she was allergic to penicillin.

Giving evidence on the third day of the inquest, Mr Griffith said: "I recall that part of her history was that she had been on antibiotics but she did not volunteer that she was allergic to penicillin.

"I was not informed by any of the staff that she was allergic to penicillin, I did not see her notes or her allergy bracelet."

Mr Griffith, 44, said at the time, in 2001, it would not have been appropriate for a consultant to take a full history from the patient.

"It's not a routine question to find out whether somebody is allergic. It is now since this incident," he said.

"I thought it would have been dealt with by other people, people who had checked her in, people who were taking care of her," said Mr Griffith, who was appointed risk incident co-ordinator at the hospital in 1999. He said he would have expected to have been told of her allergy status.

He was asked by coroner Roger Whittaker: "You had no notes, is it not incumbent on all practitioners to ensure that drugs are prescribed safely?"

"I was giving a recommendation for a prescription of drugs, I was not prescribing it myself," Mr Griffith replied.

He said he had asked for Miss Innes's notes but was told they were not available and not in their normal slot.

Mr Whittaker asked: "In the absence of experienced staff with you, what I'm concerned about is that they were left as a back-stop without your input. Is that fair comment?" Mr Griffiths said: "Perhaps,"

The Court heard that when he met Miss Innes's family shortly after the tragedy he made it clear that although he was not the person who administered or prescribed the drugs, he did take responsibility for what had happened.

The inquest heard from Dr James Storey who said Mr Griffiths asked him to prescribe Magnapen after the ward round. Dr Storey, only eight weeks out of medical school, said: "I sort of, from my junior level, took it as an instruction."

He indicated his sorrow and regret for what had happened to Miss Innes, who was 38 when she died and lived at Turnhill Grove, Bradford.

The inquest has heard Miss Innes had told staff she was allergic to penicillin when admitted into BRI for a routine operation in 2001. A reaction to medication containing the drug led to a two-year coma before the High Court ruled that, with her family's permission, life-sustaining treatment could be withdrawn and she died in August 2003.

The inquest continues.