Hospital bosses have agreed a “significant” compensation payout for the widow of a patient who died after medics were too slow to treat his deadly post-surgery infection.

Sixty-six-year-old Michael Bright, from Aikton, near Wigton, had been enjoying a happy retirement.

But his life was cut short after he underwent routine surgery to remove a tumour in his bowel and medics then failed to react quickly enough to signs he had contracted the potentially deadly infection sepsis.

After surgery at Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary, he was initially in good spirits but his condition rapidly became worse, leaving him desperately ill.

Lawyers acting for his wife Marilyn, 64, have now revealed the background to the tragedy after North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust – which manages the infirmary – admitted responsibility.

Trust officials have agreed through their solicitors to offer Mrs Bright a formal apology – although they have not yet done so, said the widow.

Speaking exclusively to the News & Star, she said: “I never dreamed Michael wouldn’t come out of that operation alive. His cancer was at an early stage. I was absolutely devastated.”

The trust admitted responsibility for the tragedy after the case was taken up by lawyer David Dawson, of Price Slater Gawne.

In 2012 a routine bowel screening exercise revealed he had cancer, which led to him being booked in at the Cumberland Infirmary for surgery to remove the tumour the following year.

When Mr Bright became ill after his surgery on May 3, various tests were carried out to establish the cause but he continued to deteriorate. A scan showed his bowel was leaking into his abdomen, prompting medics to arrange an emergency operation to repair it on May 5.

It was too late to save Mr Bright, who died the following day as a result of multiple organ failure brought about by the bowel leak. Mrs Bright said she suspected her husband was seriously ill three days earlier, but medics failed to act respond adequately.

At an inquest in August 2014, the coroner pointed out the bowel leak had led to peritonitis and the emergency surgery could have been performed sooner.

In a statement, the law firm involved said: “[A specialist consultant colorectal surgeon] confirmed if the emergency surgery had taken place the day before, then it was more than likely that Michael would have survived.”

Mrs Bright lodged a compensation claim in early 2015.

It was initially met with a denial of responsibility but eventually, through its solicitors, the trust admitted responsibility and settled the claim.

It agreed a “significant five figure award” and accepted it should provide a formal letter of apology.

The law firm’s statement added: “Marilyn hopes her loss will not simply be another statistic and lessons will be learned from the problems that so tragically resulted in Michael’s death.”

Marilyn added: “I pursued this because I wanted to get to the truth.”

A spokesman for the hospital trust said: “Our sincere condolences are with Mr Bright’s family for their loss and we apologise that the care provided fell below what we would expect. As a trust, we take learning from incidents such as this very seriously and we have carried out a full investigation.”