A CORONER has ruled that an inquest will be heard following the death of a farmer in the wake of family concerns amid apparently “significant delays” before his hospital admission.

Anthony Hick, who lived near Cleator, in West Cumbria, died at Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary on January 26 this year. He was aged 83.

Cockermouth Coroners’ Court was told on Thursday morning that Mr Hick was a retired farmer.

However, assistant coroner for Cumbria Dr Nicholas Shaw observed that Mr Hick was still capable of doing small jobs around the farm despite a mild cognitive disorder.

“He had been unwell for some days. He had been seen at home by the ambulance service on January 19 with vomiting,” said Dr Shaw.

There was no initial hospital admission. “There seem to have then been some delays before he was actually admitted to hospital on January 24,” said the coroner. “Initially there was confusion as to a possible diagnosis which was eventually reached on January 25.

"By which time it seems that Mr Hick’s condition had deteriorated to such an extent that he was not going to survive.”

Dr Shaw concluded: “Family concerns have been raised and, on the basis of the investigation being undertaken so far, there do seem to have been significant delays which need explanation as they may have, in coronial terms, have more than ‘minimally, trivially or negligibly contributed to the death’.

"Therefore an inquest is to be heard.”

A provisional date for a full hearing has been identified as October 17, 2024.

Formal evidence of identification had been accepted from a Carlisle mortuary worker, the coroner also noted.