The widower of a mother who died after giving birth at Croydon University Hospital (CUH) is still playing a “waiting game” for answers more than six years after her death.

Rosida Etwaree lost more than half her blood and suffered a fatal cardiac arrest after undergoing a caesarean section to deliver twins at the hospital, then known as Mayday, in June 2010.

She was one of five mothers to die that year while under the care of the hospital’s maternity unit.

In 2014 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust admitted liability for Mrs Ewatree’s death after solicitors found a catalogue of “atrocious” failures, and agreed to pay her husband Ahamud an undisclosed settlement to help care for the couple’s six children.

But an inquest into the 45-year-old’s death has never been held, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has spent more than two years deciding whether to bring criminal charges against the hospital.

JANUARY 2014: Croydon Univeristy Hospital could face corporate manslaughter charge after mother of twins dies

Speaking to the Croydon Guardian this week, Mr Etwaree, 44, said he was “willing to wait as long as it takes” to find out the truth about his wife’s death – but admitted the years of uncertainty had taken their toll.

He said: “It has been painful all these years...It’s had a big impact on all of us.

“We haven’t had any answers, just waiting. It’s just a waiting game.”

A former forklift driver, Mr Etwaree said he was forced to give up work and claim benefits after his wife’s death to care for the couple’s children.

In 2012 the grief-stricken family moved out of their house near to CUH to Thornton Heath, Mr Etwaree said, adding: “We had to move from there. It was too much thinking about it.

“I don’t want to show the kids what I have been through...I can’t let them down.

“We don’t talk about their mum. We just keep it to ourselves.”

One of the twins, Nabilah, died from a heart defect two years after her mother’s death and was buried in the same grave.

In January 2014 the Metropolitan Police passed their investigation into Mrs Etwaree’s death over to the CPS, after a coroner scrapped plans for an inquest because of the possibility of criminal proceedings.

More than two years later, the CPS is still yet to decide whether to bring charges.

Your Local Guardian:

Ahamud Etwaree and children Nadeem, 21, Nadia, 18, Nadir, 15, Nadil, 11, and Nuha, 6, at their home in Thornton Heath

At a hearing on Thursday, the sixth anniversary of Mrs Etwaree’s death, senior south London coroner Dr Selena Lynch said it was “not reasonable” to expect the family to wait any longer to hear all the evidence in open court.

Taking the “unusual” step of scheduling an inquest before the criminal investigation had concluded, Dr Lynch said: “I just feel somebody has to make some progress on behalf of the state.

“On behalf of the state, I take the responsibility myself.”

Announcing her intention to hold the three-week inquest in January next year, the coroner ordered the CPS and the Met to hand over all their documents related to the investigation.

She also chastised solicitor Brendan Costello, the lawyer for Dr Britt Clausson, an obstetrician and gynaecologist who worked at CUH until 2012, for expressing concerns about his busy diary at the time of the scheduled inquest.

Dr Lynch said: “This family has waited for six years to ask [questions about the death]. To wait another year or longer just because of counsel’s convenience is objectionable.”

Both Brendan Costello and Duncan Astill, representing the hospital, made a point of assuring Dr Lynch their clients had been cooperating fully with the criminal investigation.

Last October the Care Quality Commission rated the maternity unit at CUH as “good” and said there had been a “continued and sustained improvement” to the service since the previous inspection in 2013.

Dr Nnenna Osuiji, Medical Director at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, said: “We continue to offer our most sincere and heartfelt apologies to Mrs Etwaree’s family. We have co-operated fully, openly and honestly with all investigations into her death, and will continue to do so.”

Mr Etwaree, who is now remarried, said he was encouraged by Dr Lynch’s determination to discover exactly how and why his “lovely” and “understanding” wife had died.

Even after such a "painful" six years, everyday life still presented new challenges, Mr Etwaree said - only last month, the family's benefits payments had been unexpectedly frozen.

But despite more than half a decade of torment and uncertainty, Mr Etwaree insisted he felt no anger - just a desire to know the truth.

He said: “I fully support the police and the coroners and I want them to do what they think is best.

“I just hope we can get some answers.”

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