A wife has raised concerns over the treatment of her husband at Royal Blackburn Hospital after he died following a cardiac arrest.

David Jeffrey Turner, 58, died at the hospital on April 11 this year, having been admitted into the accident and emergency department, an inquest into his death has heard.

David, from Barnoldswick, had a high temperature and was finding it difficult to breathe.

His wife, Emma Turner, phoned for an ambulance after he also began vomiting among other symptoms on April 10.

He was admitted to the hospital on Haslingden Road at 11pm, and into the ward corridor by nurses at 12.50am. But he was not seen by a doctor until 5.10am the next day.

David's family raised concerns about the care he received at the hospital, and an inquest at Blackburn Town Hall heard evidence from those that cared for him during his time there.

Dr Neil Prater, a doctor at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and who was present at the inquest, said: "The hospital has been well over capacity for the past few years.

"We have to make some tricky decisions of who has to go on the corridor.

"Patients should be seen by a doctor within an hour, but the emergency department is overwhelmed with not enough staff and too many patients."

David had a long list of previous medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, an enlarged heart ventricle, and was undergoing kidney dialysis. 

The hospital gave David a test for sepsis, which was negative, and then allocated him a space on the corridor after concluding he was not in need of urgent care.

After he eventually got onto a ward, his wife Emma rang for help after he collapsed at 7.45am on April 11.

Although staff tried to resuscitate David, he was pronounced dead after his heart valves had become hard and were unable to pass blood.

David's diagnosis with aortic valve stenosis meant that his heart failed after strain over time.

Mrs Turner asked coroner Kate Bisset to enquire why David was not offered a sleep apnea machine to help him sleep like he used at home.

She also wanted to know why David was on the hospital corridor for so long without a blanket, and he told her at the time "they would have treated an animal better than this".

Addressing his wife, Ms Bisset said: "Although the sleep apnea machine would not have saved David, it definitely would have given him some comfort and dignity in his last moments.

"He had a number of health conditions, but he was doing really well as an outside man living life to the full and making plans for the future.

"The A&E department was busy, but the standard of care was not acceptable even though the staff was doing their best.

"I will see if there is anything I can do to put pressure on protecting patient's dignity so family members can be put at ease.

"Emma please do look after yourself."

Ms Bisset concluded David died of natural causes.