A CORONER said a farmer who died from sepsis could have been sent to hospital earlier but did not attribute any blame directly towards his GP.

Jonathan Peter Gibson, from Burneside, was blue-lighted to Lancaster Royal Infirmary in the early hours of the morning on New Year’s Day 2023 after feeling unwell for the previous week.

The Coroners Court at Cockermouth heard Mr Gibson attended his local GP practice on December 29 with symptoms which originally started with a sore throat.

His wife Amy said he had been ‘sweating profusely and had no energy’, in a statement that was read into the record.

The 47-year-old man saw a nurse who raised the possibility of sepsis after measuring his heart rate at 135, the inquest heard.

However a GP who saw him just ten minutes later diagnosed him with influenza and sent him home with paracetamol and ibuprofen.

The GP told Mr Gibson that he would sweat it out and feel better in the next few days, and to come back again if his symptoms worsened, it was heard.

The court heard that Mr Gibson was sick upon leaving the doctors surgery, which the GP admitted in her live evidence was a sign that he should have gone back in and been re-examined.

Paramedics on patrol on January 1 were mobilised to a farm at 5:10 am and deemed Mr Gibson required urgent treatment in hospital because they had identified signs of sepsis.

He was treated for severe sepsis and went into cardiac arrest at 7:17 am.

Doctors successfully resuscitated him at Lancaster Royal Infirmary but his condition remained unstable and a further cardiac arrest occurred shortly after. Eventually, a decision was made at 8:18am to stop any further resuscitation attempts.  

Recording a death of streptococcal septicemia due to natural causes, Doctor Nicholas Shaw, assistant coroner for Cumbria, said: “This awful experience must have left a massive hole in your family and there must be an awful lot of if only feeling.

“However, you should remember that he was seen just the one time and they gave a snapshot of what they thought the situation was. I suspect if he had gone one day later, it would have been more apparent.

“The doctor has made a diagnosis which not all of her colleagues would have agreed on.

“This was a time when influenza symptoms were increasing. This must be quite a rare case for a fit young man to have an illness like this.

“I have no doubt safeguarding advice would have been given. I send my condolences to the family on what has been a difficult afternoon.”