The family of a man who died after contracting sepsis from an untreated leg ulcer have been encouraged by a coroner to challenge his GP over the difficulties he had in obtaining a face-to-face doctor’s appointment.

Lyndon Taylor, from Rishton, died on February 18 in Royal Blackburn Hospital after being found at the house he lived in with his father in a very bad condition, struggling to breathe and unable to stand up.

His brother Andrew said the system had “failed his brother” and had put “obstacles in the way of treatment” by insisting he “have a blood test” before being seen by a GP.

An inquest at Accrington Town Hall heard how Lyndon, 49, who had also been a functioning opiate addict for many years, had developed an ulcer on his leg, which had become infected, resulting in the onset of sepsis.

He had been trying to seek treatment for the infection, but each time he tried to make a GP appointment was told he was required to take a blood test before the doctor would see him.

Despite hating the procedure, a blood test was booked for the Friday that he died, but when his brother, Andrew, arrived at his dad’s home in Sussex Road to pick him up, it was clear there was something wrong.

Speaking at the inquest, Andrew Taylor said when he first got to his father’s house, he believed his brother was “faking symptoms of breathlessness” and was deliberately trying to avoid going for a blood test, as due to his addiction and the difficulty in finding a suitable vein to take blood from, Lyndon despised the procedure.

However, when it became apparent Lyndon could not get up and was struggling to catch his breath, an ambulance was phoned and he was taken to hospital, with paramedics suspecting he was suffering from sepsis.

Due to Covid restrictions still being in place, Andrew was not permitted to travel with Lyndon to the hospital so decided to wait until his brother had been seen so he could go and collect him.

At around 8pm, Andrew received a call saying Lyndon had gone into cardiac arrest, but by the time he arrived at Royal Blackburn Hospital, Lyndon had died.

Andrew said: “He’d had a limp for some time and had an ulcer on his leg and was always telling us that he was getting it treated.

"He pulled the wool over our eyes a bit with that, fobbed us off, because it was clear it hadn’t been treated.

“On the Wednesday before he died, I was taking him to an appointment at the job centre and that’s when I noticed he was getting out of breath and struggling to walk 20 to 30 yards.

“We phoned the GP to get him an appointment, but they said he needed a blood test before they would see him.

“This is something that happened every time we tried to get him an appointment, but he was terrified of having blood taken.

“Clearly he needed to be seen so we made an appointment for Friday, February 18.

“However, when I went to pick him up on the Friday, he said he was unfit to go and I got angry because I thought he was faking it, so said ‘well if you’re unfit to go we better call 111’.

“That’s when the decision was made that they were going to send an ambulance out. I didn’t think it was serious at that point so let him go and stayed with my dad to clean the house.

“That was at 5pm, and then I got the call at 8pm telling me to come to the hospital.”

Lyndon had also recently been prescribed antibiotics for a chest infection, and a medical cause of death was offered as bronchopneumonia contributed to by an infection (sepsis) from his leg ulcer.

Coroner Kate Bisset said: “I am satisfied his drug use didn’t cause his death, it was an infection that took hold and couldn’t be rid of.

“He was unwell for some time, unable to obtain face to face GP appointments and by February 18 things got so bad that he didn’t have the energy to move.

“I have to record a natural death conclusion but share the concerns about access to his GP.

“I would encourage you to raise these concerns with the GP surgery as this will act as a barrier to accessing health care for others in the future.”

Andrew Taylor said: “The system failed him. And this must happen to many drug users, not just Lyndon, where there are obstacles that are put in the way of treating them.

“He found himself in a catch-22 with it all. The GP wouldn’t see him without a blood test, but he hated them.

“There has to be a better way to deal with situations like this – the GP would consult with him over the phone, but it would end there – there was never a follow up because he needed to take a blood test and he didn’t want to take one.

“He was left, and the ulcer got to be as chronic as it was because of that.”

Lyndon, who loved music and was, according to his brother, a “bit of a petrol head”, was a “very intelligent man who loved to read a lot”, was interested in history and World War II, and was a much-loved brother and son.