A Christchurch doctor’s apologised to the family of a woman who died following a mistake in his surgery.

Bonnie Schlef died in February 2013 after undergoing an elective surgery at Christchurch Hospital to stem bleeding in her brain.

In a Coroner’s Inquest Hearing this morning the 55-year-old’s neurologist Dr Andrew Laing said he was trying to insert a catheter into a weakened artery in her brain.

But he caused a small tear in the artery in the process which contributed to her death.

He told the family he should’ve checked the monitoring screen before removing the catheter.