Essex Live News - Neglect by NHS trust led to Colchester man's death on Christmas Day, inquest concludes

The NHS care provided to a man in Colchester, who took his own life on Christmas Day, amounted to neglect and contributed to his death a coroner has determined. The inquest into the death of Michael John Woods - known as Mick - found there were a number of "missed opportunities" to prevent his death at the Henneage mental health ward in Colchester University Hospital in 2020.

Craig Knightley, a solicitor at Tees Law, which represented the family at the inquest, said: "This Trust is subject to ongoing government inquiry due to the significant number of deaths of mental health patients over a number of years and was fined £1.5m for safety failings over the deaths of 11 mental health patients, specifically in respect of potential ligature points. Yet in December 2020, Mick was able to take his life by use of a ligature on the ward. Mick’s death was and should have been entirely preventable.

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