Former EastEnders actress Sandy Ratcliff, best known for her part as café owner Sue Osman, was given morphine tablets before being discharged from Homerton University Hospital and died the following day, an inquest has found.
Questions were raised over the hospital’s decision to switch her pain medication from codeine to morphine, despite the dangers of morphine to patients with lung disease. The inquest also noted that Ms Ratcliff had a documented history of drug abuse.
The inquest heard that there were 0.19 ug/L of morphine in Ms Ratcliff’s bloodstream before she died. This is slightly higher than normal therapeutic doses. The toxicologist at the inquest said these levels were “potentially life-threatening”.
Poplar Coroner’s Court heard that she died alone in sheltered housing last March, after taking an excessive amount of morphine while suffering from two terminal conditions.
Pathologist Alan Bates said that as “morphine is a respiratory depressant there is a greater danger of overdose when there is significant natural lung disease”.
Off-screen, Ms Ratcliff suffered a string of tragedies and ailments in the years before her death. Her GP, Helen Freeman, said she suffered from chronic heart, lung and kidney diseases, as well as chronic pain after three strokes following her partner’s death in 2013. Dr Freeman said that her discharge with morphine was “significant” given her history of drug abuse.
Dr Freeman also said that Ms Ratcliff had battled alcoholism and heroin addiction for 20 years, regularly abusing medication prescriptions and taking more than the prescribed amount for recreational use because it made her “feel good”.
Ms Ratcliff’s son, William Palmer, said his mother lived alone and “wasn’t enjoying life”.
Coroner Mary Hassel concluded that Sandy “died from a combination of two naturally occurring terminal conditions and an excess of morphine”. She said that she did not think that Ms Ratcliff used morphine to end her life, but that “she was using it as she had used drugs for many years”.
In a statement, Homerton University Hospital said: “The Trust would wish to send its sincere condolences to Ms Ratcliff’s family. We are currently reviewing the case to see what lessons there are to be learnt around our discharge procedures.”
