A Barkingside woman who died after a routine kidney stone operation was “always healthy”, a third inquest into her death has heard.

Carmel Bloom, of Fremantle Road, died in 2002 aged 54 after surgery at the privately-run Roding Hospital, in Redbridge, where she worked as a health controller.

More than a decade later this rare third inquest into the circumstances of her death has opened at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

The new inquest was ordered in 2014, at the request of her family who said fresh evidence had come to light.

Miss Bloom’s brother Bernard Bloom told the High Court yesterday that his sister had taken care of her health.

He told coroner Karon Monaghan QC: “She was always healthy.”

He added: “She looked after her health and her diet, didn’t drink, didn’t smoke.”

He said he had never really recovered from the shock of her sudden death.

Miss Bloom had been admitted to Roding Hospital on August 27 with severe pain and subsequently underwent an operation to remove a kidney stone but was later transferred to Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone.

A statement read to the court from her husband Robert Steele said medical staff who contacted him said she had become “dangerously ill”.

Mr Steele said the family was told his wife had suffered a cardiac arrest.

She remained on life support until September 8 when the decision was taken to turn the machine off.

The first inquest in 2003 found Miss Bloom died of natural causes, but that verdict was quashed by the High Court in December 2004.

The second inquest in 2005 at West London Coroners’ Court found lack of post-operative care contributed to her death.

That finding, deemed inadequate by the Bloom family, was also quashed.

The family has said fresh evidence, including an expert report and a 999 call where the night sister at the private hospital is describing the seriousness of Carmel’s condition to emergency services, should at last give a full picture of how she came to die.

The inquest will resume today.