Lyons man Tom Griffiths says he wished he had more information and support from the hospital to understand that he could possibly have stayed longer with his wife the first time he was informed she had passed away.

He also has concerns about the treatment options for his wife of 47 years, Carol, who died 27 days after being admitted to the hospital in May, 2012.

Mr Griffiths last month reached a settlement with the hospital and has decided to speak out despite the risk of repercussions because he wants the Canberra community to hear his story and learn from it.

The modest settlement has already been distributed to pay legal fees and to charities including the Lung Foundation.

Mr Griffiths, 70, a postal worker who used to work for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said what he most wanted was a public apology from the hospital.

"This was never about money," Mr Griffiths said. "It won't bring my wife back."

The Canberra Hospital has declined to comment on the case due to a confidentiality clause in the agreement.

Mrs Griffiths, 66, was admitted to the Canberra Hospital on May 4, 2012 for treatment after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

Her husband says a specialist at the hospital told them that with chemotherapy and radiation Mrs Griffiths could possibly live for another 10 years.

She died less than a month later in the hospital on May 31.

Mr Griffiths believes her death was hastened by treatment options the family did not want including a lung biopsy performed while she had a lung infection. The treatment was to determine if she also had lung cancer. She developed pneumothorax or a collapsed lung after the biopsy.

Her death certificate states she died as a result of a respiratory arrest, sepsis from pneumonia and pneumothorax, noting she also had emphysema and brain cancer. The certificate also stated she had stage 4 lung cancer – something her family believe was never actually proven, with results either inconclusive or showing no malignant cells.

But what most troubles Mr Griffiths is that he and their daughters had to endure his wife's death twice.

Mr Griffiths said his wife was in the CAT scan room at the hospital on May 31 when her condition deteriorated sharply and medical staff could not resuscitate her.

Her shocked family was asked to come to the room quickly and agreed to switch off the ventilation machines. They believed at that point – 7.34am – she was no longer alive, given what they saw and how the staff reacted.

"We told them take all the machines off her which they did and she expired. And the doctor turned to us and said, 'Sorry for your loss' and they all turned to us and said, 'Sorry for your loss'. The girls kissed their mother goodbye and walked outside and waited," Mr Griffiths said.

"I waited there for a little while longer and had my hand resting on her chest and there was no movement whatsover.

"I then walked out and all the nurses gave me a cuddle and said, "Oh, Tom we're so sorry for your loss' and I said, 'Thank you for that, can you take the rings off her hand and please don't wash them'."

Mr Griffiths said he was concerned the family was given no access to a counsellor or social worker. They went alone to get Mrs Griffith's belongings from oncology and left the hospital to return to his home in Lyons.

Medical notes later showed that Mrs Griffiths was transferred to the intensive care unit for palliation including morphine infusions but Mr Griffiths said those decisions were not relayed to him or his family.

Mr Griffiths said about 30 minutes after leaving the hospital, his mobile rang and his daughter answered it. His daughter became extremely upset as she was told by a staff member at the hospital that her mother was alive and breathing on her own in the intensive care unit.

A distressed Mr Griffiths took the phone and told the staff member he was coming back to the hospital.

"Their response was 'No, she hasn't got long to live'. I said, "I'm sorry, I'm coming back in'," he said.

"We went back in and we spent two hours and 10 minutes with her, she was still alive. She could hear us. I had my arms around her cuddling her. Talking to her and kissing her on the cheek and she passed away peacefully in my arms. And I thought, 'She hasn't died alone'. We were there."

The death certificate states Mrs Griffiths died at 10.10am.

It also says "professional nursing staff" were present at the moment of death. Mr Griffiths said this was not correct. Only he and his daughters were in the room. He had to go searching for a doctor to confirm his wife was dead, for a second time.

Mr Griffiths said among his main concerns was that his family weren't told back in the CAT scan room that they could perhaps have spent longer with her and stayed with her until she finally passed away – almost three hours later. He feels if he hadn't persisted and returned to the hospital, he and their daughters would have been denied the opportunity to be with their wife and mother in her final moments.

"To me, it was wrong," he said.

"When we all kissed Carol and said goodbye, we weren't told we could have stayed there. We could have washed her. We could have dressed her. Where were all these people, these counsellors and social workers? It's not often you have to sit there and see your loved one die twice."

Mr Griffiths said he wanted the hospital to do more to inform patients they had a right to a second opinion on medical treatment. And he wanted families to be better informed about whether they could be with their loved one as they passed away and for how long.

Mr Griffiths said he had tried to commit suicide twice since his wife died, so distressed was he by the traumatic loss of his teenage sweetheart.

They had been together since they met while working in the Immigration Department when he was 17 and she was 16. They married in 1965.

"She was my world and I was her world," he said.