Medical negligence
‘Robbed of the chance of being a happy family’ – father takes his own life after mental health failings
A “kind and loving” father-of-two with long-standing mental health problems took his own life after an NHS Trust failed to give him appropriate support during his final months.
The man suffered “eleven years of mental torture” at the hands of his illness, which saw him ultimately taking his own life in July 2017, aged 42.
His mental health deteriorated from 2013, with struggles to find a job and hold down employment taking a huge financial and psychological toll, and made his behaviour volatile.
He was admitted to hospital in February 2017 after attempting to take his own life. He sought support from South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust following his discharge from hospital.
Although he had extensive contact with mental health services over several years, the Trust has admitted failing to provide him with appropriate assessment and care when he came to them before his death.
The only support given between his discharge from hospital in February and his death in July – despite the intervention of his GP to try and secure further care - was one single telephone assessment two days after he was released back into the community.
His family has been supported in securing a settlement from the Trust by law firm Slater and Gordon.
“It’s like night and day to think of the person I met and fell in love with, to the consequences of eleven years of mental torture which meant he took his own life,” his wife says.
“I will never accept how it came to this, nor understand the brutal unfairness of his circumstances. I am devastated that our children are growing up without their kind and loving father and I have lost the love of my life. I can’t move on, no one could compare.
“I hope the mental health care and support system improves for others, for those actively seeking help and in desperate need, just like he was, to give his short life some meaning and purpose and that no one else suffers the same fate.”
When the couple first met in 2005, they were “inseparable” and went on to live happily together with their two children. The man was a trained electrician, but when work began to dry up, he started to experience anxiety and depression.
While taking whatever jobs he could – with both he and his wife working long and anti-social hours to balance income with childcare – his mental state deteriorated. He began to drink increasingly heavily, which impacted his behaviour.
“Being the bread winner was a big deal for him. He told me that he ‘loves me to bits but he isn’t bringing anything to the table’ and this was heartbreaking for him,” says his wife.
“He really wanted to be the provider for his family and take pressure off me but he was restricted in what he could do.
“The priority was to make sure he got the help he needed to put his mental health first – everything else would then follow suit. We were crazy about each other and wanted to be together, and to have a complete unit for our children. I knew the aggression and volatility wasn’t the real him.
“I strongly believe that with the right treatment, we could have been a happy family again. Our children were still young at the time of their father’s death. I believe we have all been robbed of the chance to have a very different family life, if only he had been given the care he needed.”
Rachel Shafar, clinical negligence specialist associate, acted for the family against South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.
“This is a truly heartbreaking case, where this man had battled with his mental health for many years and had received support - but when his condition really took hold, and he desperately needed the intervention of specialist services, he was left on his own,” says Rachel.
“The death of such a wonderful man is devastating enough, but the manner in which it happened has been particularly hard for his family to accept. The care delivered to him when he really needed it was sub-standard and negligent – and his family must now cope with a life without him.
“This man, and this whole family, were badly let down. We can only hope lessons are learned from this tragedy and that other families are saved from suffering in the way our clients continue to every day.”
If you think you or a loved one has experienced medical negligence, we urge you to get in touch with our clinical negligence specialists. Our experts understand the difficulty you have faced, and will be on your side every step of the way. Contact us here.
