A pensioner died at Oxford’s John Radcliffe hospital after choosing to have “risky” surgery, an inquest into her death at County Hall heard yesterday.

Mary McVey, 91, of Royal Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire, died on December 20 last year, hours after having an elective aortic valve implantation to tackle a life-threatening heart condition.

The operation, which carries a 10 per cent risk of serious or fatal consequences, resulted in a large amount of bleeding, the source of which was never found by her surgeon, Dr Rana Sayeed, or pathologist Ben Phillips, who carried out the post mortem. Mrs McVey was made aware of the risks but decided to have the operation.

Assistant deputy coroner Peter Clark recorded a narrative verdict.