A 62-year-old man died from septic shock after he collapsed in his care home, an inquest heard.

Blackburn Coroners Court heard how the health of Anthony Walker, from Lower Darwen, deteriorated in hospital after he refused to have a nasal feeding tube.

Relatives questioned how his condition had been allowed to slip while he was in the care home.

But the inquest was told staff there did all they could to help him but he would often refuse care.

Mr Walker was taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital by ambulance on December 12 after staff at Heightside House Nursing Home, Rawtenstall, found him on the floor.

The inquest heard how on top of long-standing illnesses such as chronic lung problems and schizophrenia, Mr Walker had also battled drug addiction in the past, using heroin for around 20 years, a habit which had contributed to his poor mental health.

Dr Paul Dean, a critical care consultant who treated Mr Walker, ruled that he had died from sepsis shock as a result of peritonitis, inflammation of the thin layer of tissue that lines the abdomen.

He said: “Mr Walker was incredibly poorly on his arrival at hospital.

“He was unresponsive, cold and had to be anaesthetised in the emergency department in order to protect his airways and lungs.”

After a week in hospital, Mr Walker improved but refused to wear nasal feeding tubes.

From then on, Mr Dean said, Mr Walker’s condition deteriorated.

He said: “We can only encourage patients to wear the tube, we can’t force them.

“Without taking food and drink on board he wasn’t going to fight infection and get better so he started to deteriorate.”

Mr Walker, who had been living at Heightside House for around 12 years, died on December 22.

His brother, Stephen Walker, questioned how his brother had been allowed to deteriorate.

He said: “I am struggling to understand how he had come to be in such a poor state of health before arriving in the hospital.

“I used to see Andrew twice a year, on his birthday and at Christmas," said Mr Walker.

“I hadn’t seen him since April 2017 when we were told that he had been taken to hospital after a fall in the home.

“At this stage we had no issues with the care he was receiving, but it is clear to us that somewhere he hadn’t been getting the treatment he needed.”

It was later heard how Mr Walker would regularly refuse to eat, keep clean and be weighed by staff at the care home, who had failed to notice his dramatic weight loss.

Josh Adams, the registered manager of the care home, which has been rated as ‘requires improvement’ by the Care Quality Commission for the last two years, said: “A lot has been said about Anthony.

“His drug use affected him, lowering his motivation. Most days he just couldn’t be bothered and he would reject care.”

Mr Adams also spoke of how there was only so much you could do when trying to get Mr Walker to eat and that he has been on and off various supplements to help with his weight after appointments with a dietician.

Matthew Capper, an acting detective sergeant, said his team had investigated why steps hadn’t been taken to ensure Mr Walker received the treatment he needed.

He said: “There’s no evidence to suggest that anybody has tried to arrange any professional help or raise a safeguarding alert.”

A statement from the CQC said carers in the home did all they could to provide appropriate support to Mr Walker.

Addressing the family, coroner Richard Taylor said: “Your brother was a very poorly man.

“He would not have been in a care home if he wasn’t poorly.

“After a week in hospital he started to improve and was taken out of his induced sleep but then he decided he was not going to take eat or take on board fluids.

“His demise was inevitable, his body couldn’t cope.

“There is no evidence that the care home contributed to his health.”