Frail widow Marjorie Dyer, 85, had been looking forward to leaving Eastbourne District General Hospital before the blunder.

But a mix-up meant she was not given full resuscitation when nurses were called to help her as she choked on her food.

They did not send for a crash cardiac revival team because, instead of looking at Mrs Dyer's notes, they checked those of another patient, Rose Pole, which were marked "not for resuscitation".

Hospital chiefs have opted not to take disciplinary action against the nurses following an internal inquiry into the tragedy.

However Mrs Dyer's niece, Julia Endean, from Hampshire, herself a nurse, is furious she was not told of the bungle before an inquest into her aunt's death yesterday.

She has now vowed to take further action. Mrs Endean, 43, who works at a hospital in Southampton, said: "I had no idea what went on with my aunt until I heard it at the inquest.

"I am shocked and disturbed. I am a nurse and I know what it is like on the wards, but I think what happened is inexcusable.

At the inquest coroner Alan Craze recorded a verdict of accidental death.

After the hearing hospital spokesman Chris Randall said the nurses involved in the incident have now left the hospital.

He added: "There is no doubt an error occured, but it was a human error. No disciplinary action was taken, but it shows that there are some grey areas that we might want to look at."

The inquest was told that Mrs Dyer, a former art buyer, had spent five days in the hospital following a fall.

Wilmington ward staff nurse Louise Hall-Bennett explained how another patient called to tell her Mrs Dyer looked unwell.

Mrs Dyer, of Wadhurst Close, Eastbourne, had choked on part of a ham sandwich when Mrs Hall-Bennett arrived at her bedside.

She attempted to clear Mrs Dyer's airway before placing an emergency call for a doctor.

But she did not call for an emergency resuscitation team after reading notes she believed corresponded to Mrs Dyer, which stated "not for resuscitation".

When Dr Pravin Jain arrived on the ward he was told the patient was not for resuscitation.

Dr Jain had walked from the Hailsham ward on the other side of the hospital, a distance estimated to have taken at least three minutes.

He told the inquest: "Before taking action, I was told the patient was not for resuscitation. She was not breathing and there were no signs of her chest moving. She had had a respiratory arrest.

"The only way that patient could have been brought back was to resuscitate. But by the time I arrived, I do not think the patient would have survived a resuscitation attempt."

Dr Jain refused to say whether Mrs Dyer would have survived a resuscitation attempt at the time she was found choking by nurses.

About an hour after Mrs Dyer was pronounced dead, Dr Jain was told that the nurses had referred to the case notes of the wrong woman.

Dr Arthur Dunk, the consultant responsible for Mrs Dyer's care at the hospital, said: "Patients are normally resuscitated at all times unless it is clearly marked in the case notes, and it has been discussed by the nursing staff."

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