A hospital orderly who left a pensioner suspended in a bath-chair above a running hot tap yesterday denied he was to blame for her death.

However Coroner Ed King later told the inquest into the death of 81-year-old Gladys Smith that the verdict on Monday would not point the finger at anyone.

Mrs. Smith suffered a heart attack and first degree burns after being left alone in a King Edward VII Memorial Hospital bathroom on March 26, 2002.

Nurse Carmalita Francis discovered her around an hour later in a steaming hot bathroom but she died shortly afterwards.

Ms Smith, of Railway Trail, Somerset Bridge had heart disease and had only been admitted to the hospital a month earlier.

During a heated exchange with Mr. King yesterday Mr. Furbert told the inquest that Mrs. Smith?s condition, which included low blood pressure and legs swollen with fluid, meant she should have been bed-bathed rather than taken to the tub room.

He said nurse Francis had fiddled records by saying the senior had been bed bathed, and only corrected the record after the horrific discovery. Mr. Furbert also said it was wrong to order him to put Mrs. Smith in the bath.

?It was negligent. I am concerned because I am blamed,? he said.

?For three years I have been blamed for something I didn?t do. Now I am telling the truth no one will let me do it.?

His comments came after clashes with Mr. King about how he answered questions. He went on to say he would tell the family the truth outside if he continued to be muzzled.

Mr. King responded: ?Drop it right there.?

He said Mr. Furbert had, in his own words, left the hot faucet running for over an hour.

The orderly was questioned about the state of Mrs. Smith?s feet when she was moved to the bed after being discovered gasping for breath alone in a steaming hot bathroom.

He said: ?Her feet were blistered. Her flesh from the bottom of her feet was almost like banana peel. The skin was peeling from the sole of her foot.?

Mr. Furbert, who now works in King Edward VII Memorial?s intensive care unit as an EMT, said he stayed with Mrs. Smith for 20 to 25 minutes during her dying moments until a doctor said it was all over.

The orderly had earlier said he had ran the water to wash away faeces from the tub as the patient began to defecate but turned off the cold tap because the hot tab was ?less than lukewarm?.

He said he told nurse Francis and then both of them went on a break, with Ms Francis remembering about her patient an hour or so later.

Yesterday Mr. Furbert told hospital lawyer Allan Doughty (CORR) the hot tap had been so cold at that stage in the morning that nurses were using kettles to heat water.

The orderly said: ?It was as if you had turned on no hot water at all.?

At which point the Coroner interjected: ?So why did you turn it on at all? You did not have to turn off the cold water to flush the faeces away.?

Mr. King then summarised Mr. Furbert?s testimony, insisted he sign it despite quibbles from Mr. Furbert. He then told the Coroner?s court that his duty was only to find out who died and how, when and where they had died while the question of civil and criminal liability was for the Police, Department of Public Prosecution?s and the civil lawyers to address.