AN ELDERLY man took his own life after being discharged from a mental health care programme.

William Novel Hoare, from Wokingham, had suffered from mental health problems for several years, which deteriorated following the death of his wife.

Mr Hoare, who was 82, died on March 18 last year and an inquest into death revealed this was because of an overdose of drugs and a large consumption of alcohol.

His wife had been unwell for a while before her death in May 2017 and the tablets Mr Hoare used to overdose were found in the kitchen of his home on Luckley Road Wokingham.

A Berkshire Healthcare nurse, said: “I knew that this could have been a possible trigger. I did ask them to remove all the drugs from his home. To the best of my knowledge I believe they did do that.”

Mr Hoare had previously shown signs that he wanted to take his own life by overdosing on medication in July 2017.

His GP added: “He went to see my colleagues and denied any suicidal thoughts, but he just wanted to be on his own.”

Mr Hoare was discharged from the mental health care programme (Care Programme Approach) in August 2017, as doctors were not concerned about his mental wellbeing.

On behalf of the family, Heidi Connor, senior coroner for Berkshire, raised concerns that he should have still received mental health care.

His GP, said: “He was the brightest I had seen him in a long time. He was very chatty, so I had no cause for concern.”

At the inquest the family were assured that Mr Hoare was discharged after an appropriate risk assessment and could have contacted them anytime he needed.

A Berkshire Healthcare nurse added: “We assessed his mental health state. The risk was no longer evident, and it seemed appropriate to discharge him from our CPA service.”

Anyone who would like to seek help is urged to call Samaritans on: 0845 790 9090.