EDP: Family of man who jumped to his death from Norwich’s Castle Mall agree settlement with mental health service

Matthew Dunham, 25, was suffering from depression when he jumped from the shopping mall on May 9 2013.

His family and the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) have settled a claim out of court, lawyers said today, after the trust admitted failures “materially contributed to the deceased taking his own life”.

At an inquest in September 2013, Norfolk coroner William Armstrong said there were “fundamental deficiencies” in the trust’s care for Mr Dunham. The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide while suffering from mental disorder.

And Mr Armstrong made a number of recommendations to the NSFT.

Her lawyer Ben Ward, a medical negligence specialist with Ashton KCJ, said: “Matthew’s family feel passionately that the mental health service let Matthew down…

“It may be that the fatal flaws revealed by this case are due to lack of money and resources or it may be management structure.”

The trust admitted a breach of duty regarding failings in communication between its teams and in failing to provide an appointment more urgently.

NSFT’s director of nursing, Dr Jane Sayer, said: “Matthew’s family have our deepest sympathies and apologies for their loss. We are pleased that this matter has now been settled by the NHS Litigation Authority.”

Click on the image below to read the full story on the EDP website:

EDP Family of man who jumped to his death from Norwich’s Castle Mall agree settlement with mental health service

3 thoughts on “EDP: Family of man who jumped to his death from Norwich’s Castle Mall agree settlement with mental health service”

  1. May you rest in peace Matthew.  You should not have been left in your darkest hour. The Trust management MUST learn the lesson of the tragic loss of your life.  How many others are currently suffering whilst they do nothing?

  2. As a person who worked for the CRHT for years And have now retired could not do my job as needed  because the staff who work in the front line do not recive any support from Management who if  looked at . There is a lot of managers about who spend there working life Emailing Each other and having meetings To come up with no change The staff visiting Patients if there is a shortage the management will not help at all you have to muddel through It is sad what has happend but this will not inprove unless there is restruture of the whole  CRHT  This department used to work fine untill the cuts New management  were put in place to oversee the cost saving at more cost and more meetings.  the new Chief ex said on the Anglia news we will get More Management to Inprove Servise  This has been going on like this for years .The management  have altered this Department for years and the staff do not want change they need to be left to help people as required

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