ONE of the county's longest survivors of an industrial disease died days before he was due to be discharged from a Southampton hospital where his family feel he was not properly cared for, an inquest heard.

Stanley Thomas had campaigned for awareness of the dangers of asbestos exposure after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma - a form of lung cancer - in 2006.

The 76-year-old, of Heather Close in Totton, worked as a heating and plumbing engineer for 38 years, coming into contact with the harmful fibres.

He died on March 19 at Southampton General Hospital following repeated chest infections and breaking his hip during a fall on March 3 - the same day staff began organising for him to go home.

He was not seen for 30 minutes and could not reach his emergency buzzer. He had to text his daughter Sharon Thomas to call the hospital so someone could help him off the floor.

He also had to wait around four hours for an x-ray.

Ms Thomas, of Lapwing Drive in Totton, said: "My concern was that he could have come home. From him falling at 1.20pm and not having an x-ray until 6pm, I don't think was good. To me the care in this last term in hospital was not what it should have been."

Senior coroner for central Hampshire Grahame Short said both matters "may be cause for complaint to the hospital" but would not have altered the outcome.

Dr Ramesh Kurukulaaratchy, consultant in respiratory, general and allergy medicine, treated him.

He said: "He had a good response to the antibiotics I must say. One of the things that struck me was how he was able to bounce back several times.

"He was clearly a very spirited, determined man."

Five days after the fall on March 3 doctors operated on Mr Thomas's hip, but he developed kidney and liver problems and died on March 19 - five days before his 77th birthday.

Post mortem results showed he had a lung tumour and pneumonia, as well as chronic heart disease, liver and kidney problems.

Consultant histopathologist Dr Sanjay Jogai said the cause of death was bronchopneumonia, secondary to mesothelioma, asbestos exposure and other health problems.

Coroner Mr Short recorded a verdict of death by industrial disease.

After the inquest Dr Kurukulaaratchy told the family that there is an inquiry into the fall.

Ms Thomas told the Daily Echo: "We as a family welcome that there is an inquiry at the hospital and look forward to hearing the result."

Tamsyn Brissenden, patient safety adviser at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We express our sincere condolences and sympathies to Mr Thomas’s family following their sad loss.

“We have conducted a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr Thomas’s fall and will be contacting his family to discuss the findings and address any other concerns they have.”