Yahoo News Tragic death at Devon beauty spot
An inquest into the death of a much-loved 29-year-old man who died at a beauty spot in Devon has highlighted how he had had to wait in A&E for three days before a physiatric bed became available shortly before he died. Following a decline in his mental health, Matthew Nand-Lal, who was studying for a master's degree at the University of Nottingham, returned to live with his family in Torquay.
He was said to be suffering acute mental health issues, including psychosis and anxiety, which first began when he started university in 2012. On Monday, May 1, 2023 - a bank holiday - he attended A&E to ask for help and a change in his medication after hearing voices in his head over the previous few days.
It was not until three days later on May 4, that a bed was found for him at the Glenbourne Unit in Plymouth as a voluntary patient. The two-ward single-sex acute mental health hospital is for adults who are too unwell to be treated at home. During his long wait, the inquest heard doctors had been unable to change his medication as he required a detailed mental health assessment, and that being in the busy A&E environment had caused him additional anxiety.
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Matthew was discharged back home from the unit on May 17, and received support from community mental health teams as well as his family, and was thought to be doing okay. However, after setting off for a third walk on May 23, 2023, he texted his family stating he did not want to be alive anymore and where he could be found.
His father Timothy reported a concern for welfare to police and his body was located shortly after at a beauty spot in Devon. The cause of his death was multiple traumatic injuries following a fall from height.
In a statement, Mr Nand-Lal told how Matthew had grown up in Torbay and achieved 'very well' at school and then had begun to suffer with his mental health at university.
Before his death, he said: "He had been very quiet for a couple of days but kept saying he was okay."
He praised the support mental health teams gave him but raised concerns over a lack of funding and resources for mental health services, especially at weekends and out of hours, and access to physiatric beds.
Mr Nand-Lal told the coroner that the 'significant' wait in A&E had made his son fear it would be too difficult to get back in for treatment.
He said: "Challenges to access mental health services make it so difficult for individuals to get help and it makes them reluctant to try and come back through the system."
He added: "When he was in A&E there was a lot of noise. As he was going through a mental health crisis what he needed was peace and the last place he was going to get it was a busy A&E environment. Other people in A&E in similar difficulties were also raising concerns over a lack of beds."
The inquest heard Mr Nand-Lal had not made any previous suicide attempts in the past but had shared thoughts of self-harm with mental health professionals.
On the day of his death, he was contacted by a mental health practitioner who spoke to him and his parents and no safety concerns were reported, and he was said to be happy at home. A consultant physiatrist confirmed he engaged well with services and described him as an 'intelligent man' with 'potential for the future filled with promise'.
Recording a conclusion of suicide, assistant coroner Nicholas Lane described Matthew's death as a 'complete shock no one expected' and said: "I am satisfied it is more likely than not based on the evidence that Matt deliberately fell from height and deliberately intended to end his life when he took that action."
