A SEVERELY anorexic woman who rapidly fell ill could have been moved to a high-dependency unit sooner, an inquest was told.

Lisa Opie, 43, of Westway, Barrow, died at Furness General Hospital on January 6 2014 after picking up an infection following an ovarian cyst operation at Royal Preston Hospital on December 27 2013.

The first day of a two-day inquest into her death at Barrow Town Hall yesterday was told that after arriving at FGH at 4.15pm on December 31, Mrs Opie was hallucinating.

She was not passing much urine, her wound was oozing fluid and her C-reactive protein count, a marker for inflammation, was high.

However, she was not transferred to the high-dependency unit until 11pm on December 31 and to intensive care until 3am on January 1.

Since Mrs Opie's death, new methods of dealing with sepsis have been introduced at the hospital, the inquest was told.

Dr Vincent Bamigboye, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at FGH, was asked by assistant coroner for Cumbria, Mr Robert Chapman, whether Mrs Opie's transfer would have been faster today compared to 2014.

He replied: "It probably would have been different. Maybe the transfer to ICU (intensive care unit) would have been quicker."

But other tests gave a different picture of Mrs Opie's health - her white cell count was decreasing, usually an encouraging sign that things were stablising, and her temperature was normal.

In addition, when Mrs Opie was transferred from Preston to Barrow, she came without detailed medical notes and just a letter and operation note.

When she was admitted, Mrs Opie had a body mass index of 12 and a history of poor nutrition.

Dr Julie Barker, a retired GP and on-call obstetrician and gynaecologist at FGH, said the patient's anorexia meant she was more susceptible to catching infections.

Carol Leder, a staff nurse at FGH, described the situation on Ward One as "extremely busy".

She was also aware that Mrs Opie, described by her husband Kevin as a "pure diamond" after her death, needed dressing and new bedding due to the leaking from her wound.

The inquest continues.