A beauty therapist who died of a blood clot after cosmetic surgery had not been given blood thinning medication to take home, it was revealed today.
Louise Harvey, 36, paid £7,000 to UK-based company Transform for a tummy tuck and breast enhancement at a private London hospital.
A pre-inquest hearing was told the mum-of-three was prescribed a single dose of an anticoagulant drug during her two day stay there.
But Louise, who had a history of blood clots in her family, was not given any medication when she was discharged.
Norfolk Area corner Yvonne Blake said she wanted to know the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on the issue.
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She suggested it was "quite risky" for Louise not to have the drugs because her grandmother and sister had each suffered DVT in the past.
The coroner added: “My concern is that these protocols may be adequate for an average patient who tends to be youngish.
“But because of her family history with DVT, doesn’t that make her out of the range of the average patient?
"She was out for three hours having multiple procedures.”
The coroner said she wanted the full inquest to examine the potential “lack of scrutiny” of Louise's family history as well as her post-operative care.
She said the tummy tuck - abdominoplasty - would have reduced her mobility while she recovered, making a blood clot more likely.
Ms Blake said: “Having a tummy tuck would make you less inclined to move about than you would just with breast augmentation.
"My concern is that the family history was not taken into account.”
Louise collapsed at her home in Norwich before dying in hospital 17 days after the operation in June last year.
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Chris Mellor, representing Transform, said that guidelines about the prescribing of anticoagulant drugs were not firm rules.
He added: “Whilst there are guidelines, they are not necessarily guidelines that apply to this particular type of surgery.”
He told Norfolk Coroner's Court that the clinic had a video showing Louise was mobile at the point of discharge.
But he also claimed the company had improved protocols since her death.
The inquest was adjourned for a full hearing which is likely to take up to four days on dates to be fixed.
After the hearing lawyer Tim Deeming, who is representing Louise's family, said: “We just want full and complete answers to explain how prescription errors took place and what Transform have done to ensure lessons have been learned.”
Louise's three children Kayleigh-Anne, 19, Owen, 11, and Jaxon, six, are now being looked after by her mother Lyn Harvey.
Lyn, 52, previously told the Mirror her daughter was a "hard-working, brilliant mum" and said she was "not vain".
