A grieving father-of-five slammed a hospital for his wife's death last week after a tumour above her kidney went undetected.

An inquest at Hornsey Coroners' Court heard how Sheqeba Makin, of Kingsbury Road, died at Central Middlesex Hospital on April 27, this year, when several of her main organs failed.

She had been admitted to the hospital, which is run by the North West London Hospital Trust, along with Northwick Park, for a routine hysterectomy.

But the 42-year-old's blood pressure rocketed after the stress of the operation and the tumour caused the adrenal gland, where the cancer had developed, to produce excessive amounts of adrenaline.

This in turn led to excessively high blood pressure - causing her heart, lungs, kidneys and blood to collapse.

It emerged during the inquest that Mrs Makin had been complaining of palpitations, headaches and abdominal pain since as far back as 2003 - causing her husband Mohammed Makin to question why the tumour had never been found.

He said: "For years she complained about her kidneys being in pain but she was always discharged. There was never any talk of a tumour.

"Then, all of a sudden, they find it after she has died. I don't understand."

But a Home Office pathologist told the court that her condition was extremely rare and that her symptoms could have been the result of a catalogue of problems.

Ashley Fegan-Earl said: "There was no evidence of unusual bleeding or infection after the surgery and the only finding that explains her death was a very rare tumour above her right kidney, which is incredibly difficult to diagnose.

"Some of the symptoms it may produce are very common and while it may produce headaches and palpitations, there are few of us that haven't suffered from these things at some time.

"I have carried out more than 12,000 post mortems and this is the first one I have ever come across.

"It is difficult to determine how long any tumour has been present. It could have been a number of years or as little as six months."

But Mr Makin, who now has to raise the couple's five children, who are as young as nine, on his own, remains unconvinced.

Speaking outside court he said: "I do feel let down by all this because my life and our children's lives will never been the same again.

"With all the technology around now I just don't understand how they couldn't find something so important. I don't think it's good enough."

Consultant Nii Armar and anaesthetist Helen James, who were caring for Mrs Makin at the time of her death, both gave evidence at the hearing.

Coroner Patricia Harding recorded a narrative verdict.