AN elderly Ely woman died shortly after being treated by a German doctor who has been fined after accidentally administering the wrong painkiller- a dosage 10 times the usual amount - which killed a 70-year-old Manea man. Iris Edwards, who was in her 80s

AN elderly Ely woman died shortly after being treated by a German doctor who has been fined after accidentally administering the wrong painkiller- a dosage 10 times the usual amount - which killed a 70-year-old Manea man.

Iris Edwards, who was in her 80s, died from a heart attack on February 17 last year after Dr Daniel Ubani visited her at Vera James House in Ely.

Cambridgeshire police have confirmed to the Ely Standard that they investigated the death of Mrs Edwards, and referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service, but after a Post Mortem revealed that Mrs Edwards died from a heart attack, the CPS decided against any further action.

Cambridge Housing Society, which owns Vera James House, said in a statement that it "expressed deep regret at the unexpected death of a resident at their care home, Vera James House in Ely, on the night of February 16/17 2008. Her death took place after a visit from an on-call locum doctor, who was then suspended during an investigation of this and other patients visited by him on the same night. The other patients had no connection to Vera James House".

CHS chief executive, Nigel Howlett said: "We were saddened by the death of our resident and our sympathies continue to be with the family. The staff at Vera James House followed all our procedures and the doctor was accompanied at all times by a senior carer. The first we knew of any concerns was when we were contacted by the police a few days afterwards. Subsequently our employees have given a full account of the events of that evening."

Vera James house manager, Susan Gooch added "The staff are very sorry for the resident and her family. No action was taken against the doctor in regard to our resident which we hope will allay the concerns of the family, residents and staff. In the meantime, we continue to provide our usual caring and professional environment for all residents."

Dr Ubani, who had only been in England for a few hours before visiting David Gray, aged 70, in Manea, has been given a suspended prison sentence in Germany and fined �4,500 after the death of .

The news means that a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Crown Prosecution Service to bring him back to Britain for a possible trial here, has been dropped under the rules of 'double jeopardy'. Effectively he can't be tried twice for the same crime.

He gave Mr Gray 100 mg of diamorphine which he later admitted he had mistaken for pethidine.

The Care Quality Commission, a newly-formed health regulatory body, will now examine the services of Take Care Now, that provides contracts for out-of-hours services for Cambridgeshire and other health authorities.

Christine Braithwaite, head of investigations at CQC, said in a statement: "We have to ensure that any lessons are learnt. We are aware of a number of concerns in relation to out-of-hours care provided by Take Care Now to the NHS. We will be looking into these issue to ensure that the interests and safety of patients are properly safeguarded.