An Iranian refugee who set himself on fire on Nauru would have had up to a 95% chance of survival had be been treated in Australia, an inquest has heard.

A Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital burns specialist, Jason Miller, treated 23-year-old Omid Masoumali about 30 hours after he burned himself in April 2016, before he died of organ failure.

Miller testified that based on Masoumali’s age and the fact that about half his body was burned, the injuries would have a death rate of 5%-10% under his care.

That would have been the case for most major Australian metropolitan hospitals, he told Brisbane coroners court on Wednesday.

“It would be fully dependent on the care that he received in a timely fashion,” Miller said.

“A major burn on a Pacific island like his, I would expect to be lethal 100% of the time.

“The only chance he had was to have more effective care in an earlier time frame. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be provided.

“It needs to be dealt with very quickly locally.”

Based on discussions with Nauru doctors before Masoumali’s transport to Brisbane, Miller was under the impression he was likely to survive.

After being shown photos of Masoumali under care in Nauru hospital for the first time on Wednesday, he agreed with the family’s barrister, Shane Prince SC, that conditions were “wholly unacceptable from a clinical point of view”.

“At the stage of all my discussions, he was stable,” Miller said. “So, certainly it appeared the burn was very survivable at that point.

“There is an inequity of service delivery to a patient with a major burn.”

The inquest has heard Masoumali died two days after suffering burns injuries he inflicted in front of UN representatives who “upset and frustrated” his partner.

The 24-year-old had poured petrol on to his clothes, with phone footage showing him pacing around a resettlement area of Nauru, yelling intensely then being engulfed in a large ball of flames.

The inquest continues.