How can it be that Evening Post reader Bernie Slater is still waiting – after more than two years – to find out why his wife Jenny died at Bristol Royal Infirmary?

The answer, of course, will ultimately be "cherchez the lawyer".

Mrs Slater went into St Michael's Hospital for a hysterectomy, which appeared to go to plan. But after the operation – according to Mr Slater – she declined rapidly.

Within weeks, Mr Slater says, she was admitted to the BRI in an emaciated, frail and unkempt state, with bedsores and a chest infection which put her into intensive care. It was there that she died.

Mr Slater is so dissatisfied with information from the hospital about his wife's treatment that he is pushing for an inquest to try to find out what happened to her. In order to do that, Mr Slater has had to appoint a lawyer. The hospital, inevitably, will not comment on the case "for legal reasons".

It is probably not the hospital's fault that lawyers are involved. It is probably standard procedure for a complaint like this. The legal process has certainly already begun – the hospital has apparently submitted no less than 10 witness statements, with more to come.

But it is a damning indictment of our litigious society that Mr Slater has to resort to using a lawyer to find out why his wife died in hospital.

And it is surely a great shame that the NHS listens to its lawyers before it is prepared to give open answers to a grieving husband.