Colin Flatt was a name known to many football fans across Essex, having played for clubs including Leyton Orient, Cambridge United, Southend United, Barnet, Romford, and Wisbech Town. But in September 2021, the 81-year-old former footballer’s life ended not on the pitch, but in tragic and controversial circumstances at Basildon Hospital. His family’s fight for answers has now cast a harsh spotlight on the state of mental health and dementia care within the NHS, raising troubling questions about dignity, oversight, and accountability.
Flatt’s final months were marked by a rapid and distressing decline. According to BBC, he was first admitted to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford in May 2021 with a low heart rate and was subsequently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease by the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) mental health team. What followed was a bewildering series of transfers—twelve different settings in just a few months—each change reflecting the system’s struggle to find a suitable environment for a man whose needs were complex but hardly unique among the elderly living with dementia.
On June 9, 2021, after several incidents of violence and aggression, Flatt was transferred to Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford and detained under the Mental Health Act. A Mental Health Tribunal later determined he could be discharged, but he was unable to settle at home. Instead, he cycled through care homes, supported at various points by EPUT and the North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT). His agitation and confusion only seemed to worsen. After absconding from a care home and being returned by police, he was sent to Basildon Hospital due to ongoing heart problems. It was there, on the Florence Nightingale Ward, that the unthinkable happened.
According to an independent report commissioned by NHS England and carried out by health and social care consulting firm Niche, Flatt became agitated, stabbed himself in the abdomen with a pair of scissors, and ran from the ward. He then fell over the railings of a first-floor landing, landing on a glass table below. He did not recover from his injuries and died in September 2021.
The investigation into Flatt’s care uncovered a litany of failings. The report, as cited by The Sun and BBC, found that he had been held in hospitals and care homes without a proper legal framework, in breach of his human rights. He was prescribed a high-risk anti-psychotic drug at Basildon Hospital despite his heart problems, and the doses exceeded the limits set by trust policies. Both chemical and physical restraints were used inappropriately by staff at Broomfield and Basildon hospitals, resulting in injuries. The report also highlighted that Flatt was placed in unsuitable rooms—one with continuous hammering and drilling—and subjected to early morning transfers at 1:00 and 2:00 am, practices the investigation deemed wholly inappropriate.
Perhaps most distressing for Flatt’s loved ones was the lack of consideration given to the views of his partner, Melanie Leahy, despite her having legal power of attorney. The initial review into his fatal fall was “significantly delayed and incomplete with an absence of analysis,” the report stated. In total, it made 17 recommendations, most aimed at the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT), which runs both Broomfield and Basildon hospitals.
For Melanie Leahy, the findings were a painful validation of what she had witnessed firsthand. “I watched a strong, capable man walk into hospital seeking help and, within just 19 weeks, he was gone,” she told BBC. “The lack of proper care, the poor communication, the absence of oversight, and the dangerous overuse of medication had stripped Colin of his health, dignity, and life. He was a professional footballer, a sailor, and a businessman—proud, independent, and full of humour and kindness. To see him deteriorate so rapidly under supposed professional care is something I will never recover from.”
Leahy’s fight for justice has become deeply personal. Her 20-year-old son Matthew also died in 2012 while under the care of the same services, a loss that continues to haunt her. She has called for a full and transparent review of how sedative drugs were used in Flatt’s care and is due to give evidence to the Lampard Inquiry—a statutory investigation into mental health deaths in Essex—on October 23, 2025. The inquiry, chaired by Baroness Kate Lampard CBE, is examining the deaths of mental health inpatients in Essex between 2000 and 2023, with a final report expected by the end of 2027.
During her testimony, Leahy described how Flatt was “chemically restrained” and, at times, no longer recognized her. She recounted seeing “bruises all up and down his arms” and finding him “surrounded” by security guards. “How a man in his 80s [was left] lying in urine-soaked sheets at the bottom of a hospital bed while suffering from a severe infection, is what led me to be here today,” she told the inquiry, as reported by The Sun.
The NHS trusts involved have issued public apologies and outlined steps they say are being taken to prevent such tragedies from happening again. Christine Blanshard, chief medical officer for MSEFT, said, “We offer our sincere condolences to Colin’s family and want to reassure them that learning and improvements have been put in place since his death in 2021. We have already submitted a robust action plan which responds to the points made.” Paul Scott, chief executive of EPUT, echoed the sentiment: “My thoughts are with Colin’s family and friends and I am deeply sorry for failings in his care.” NELFT also expressed its condolences and stated, “We hope that the investigation has helped answer important questions about the circumstances surrounding his death. Following this tragic incident, we have implemented a series of changes in line with the recommendations in the report.”
NHS England, for its part, stated that it wants “the highest levels of standards delivered across mental health services, supporting our most vulnerable patients and the work of NHS staff to ensure such tragedies do not happen in the future.”
Colin Flatt’s inquest is scheduled for August 2026, but for his family and advocates, the wounds remain raw. The Lampard Inquiry’s eventual findings may shape the future of mental health care in Essex and beyond, but the story of Colin Flatt stands as a stark reminder of the human cost when systems fail to protect the dignity and rights of those most in need.
