Stephen Ratclife

1 Sept 2023 · Coroner Joanne Kearsley · Manchester North

The coroner's concerns

1. lack of specialist blood test service for patients with difficult venous access
“The court heard that due to the deceased having compromised venous access as a result of his drug use, the GP practice were unable to take his bloods. The evidence before the court was that there is no specialist service for GPs to refer a patient to for bloods when venous access is difficult. Evidence was heard that this had been raised previously to the CCG. As a result, in this case no test for diabetes was obtained.”