Settlement awarded to family of a man who ended his own life due to a failure in mental health provisions

Ruth Houghton, Medical Negligence Executive, has secured a settlement of £22,500 for the family of CC, who took his own life in March 2020 following a failure by the mental health team to follow him up for three months.

CC had attended his local mental health support team concerned about his mental health in December 2019 and asked for help on three separate occasions that month. He was told that someone would be in contact to set up his referral for support and treatment – this was delayed until March 2020. This delay was an admitted failure by the mental health team.

By this time, CC had been without appropriate support and therapy for three months and, as a result, tragically ended his own life in March 2020.

A settlement was reached to reflect the unnecessary suffering CC and his family had endured.

Ruth Houghton commented: “The saddest element of this case was that CC had sought the necessary help on three occasions and it simply did not materialise. He and his family were let down in the worst way as CC felt he had no choice but to end his life. No amount of money will ever replace the devastating loss, but it can help towards rebuilding their lives moving forward.”

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