A 46-YEAR-OLD woman who died at a Ballarat hospital did not receive a CT scan when requested because it was too dangerous for staff to drive at night, a court has heard.Kerry Lyn Taylor died at Ballarat Health Services Base Hospital on August 1, 2006 - four days after being transferred from St Arnaud Hospital with severe abdominal pain.An inquest at the Coroners Court in Ballarat was told yesterday physician Associate Professor Christoph Gatzka examined Mrs Taylor in the emergency department about 3.10am on July 28 and requested an urgent CT scan.Prof Gatzka said he phoned the on-call radiologist, Dr Ross Breadmore, who agreed to perform the scan but not until later in the morning."I tried to get a reason out of Dr Breadmore and I was told it would be too dangerous for radiography staff to be driving at night," Prof Gatzka said.The court heard Mrs Taylor was moved to the hospital's intensive care unit and underwent the CT scan at 10am.Two surgeons operated on Mrs Taylor but they could not find the cause of her illness, the court heard.During cross-examination defence counsel Mark Richardson accused Prof Gatzka of giving up on Mrs Taylor after he was told the CT scan could not be done until later."At 3.30am you basically gave up on this patient," Mr Richardson said.However Prof Gatzka disagreed, saying he could not perform the scan without Dr Breadmore.Mr Richardson also questioned why Prof Gatzka did not perform the scan himself, given his senior position.Ballarat Health Services chief medical officer Dr John Gallichio told the court Mrs Taylor had a number of medical conditions, including obesity and respiratory problems, and had been unwell for some time."Mrs Taylor was in a serious medical condition and was unlikely to survive," he said. "She was irreversible by the time she reached Ballarat Health Services."The inquest before Coroner Fiona Stewart will continue today.