New operating tables have been installed at Derriford Hospital

Monica Hocking died four days after surgery at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth during which the top of the operating table came apart.

Plymouth coroner Nigel Meadows opened and adjourned the inquest into the death of Mrs Hocking, who was from Winkleigh in north Devon.

He said a post mortem examination at Southampton General Hospital revealed the cause of death as cardiac failure and heart disease.

Mr Meadows said he hoped to resume the hearing in six to eight weeks.

Heart operations were cancelled at the hospital for a short time after the incident on 23 February.

The surgeon in the theatre when the operating table came apart was forced to ask other staff to steady it so he could continue.

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust called in the government's Medical Devices Agency to inspect the faulty table at the South West Cardiothoracic Centre at Derriford, which opened in 1997.