{"id":76748,"date":"2025-10-15T05:13:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T05:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/ex-footballer-colin-flatt-stripped-of-his-health-dignity-and-life-by-nhs\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T05:13:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T05:13:00","slug":"ex-footballer-colin-flatt-stripped-of-his-health-dignity-and-life-by-nhs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=76748","title":{"rendered":"Ex-footballer Colin Flatt ‘stripped of his health, dignity, and life by NHS’"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Nikki Fox<\/span>East of England health correspondent<\/span> and<\/span><\/p>\n

Matt Precey<\/span>BBC East Investigations<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"FamilyFamily photo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Colin Flatt, who his partner described as having been a “strong, capable man” never recovered after falling over a hospital balcony on to a glass table<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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An ex-footballer with dementia who died after falling from a height was “stripped of his dignity” while in NHS care, his family said.<\/p>\n

Colin Flatt, whose clubs included Leyton Orient and Cambridge United, was shuffled between 12 different settings in the final few months before he died after a fall at Basildon Hospital in September 2021.<\/p>\n

An investigation, commissioned by the NHS, found he was given unsafe medication, was injured while being restrained, placed in inappropriate environments and his human rights were breached. <\/p>\n

The NHS organisations concerned apologised or said they were working to improve standards of care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Flatt, 81, died following a fall at Basildon Hospital in Essex.<\/p>\n

The independent report described how he had become agitated while on the Florence Nightingale Ward and had stabbed himself in his abdomen with a pair of scissors.<\/p>\n

He ran from the ward and fell over the railings of a first-floor landing, on to a glass table.<\/p>\n

He did not recover from his injuries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Colin Flatt (middle of the seated row) in Leyton Orient’s squad when they were in the old Second Division in 1965<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Mr Flatt, who also played for Southend United, Romford, Barnet, and Wisbech Town, had been suffering from memory loss and was admitted to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford in May 2021 with a low heart rate.<\/p>\n

He was subsequently assessed by the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) mental health team and diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.<\/p>\n

The report described how “following several incidents of violence and aggression” he was transferred to Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford, east London, on 9 June and detained under the Mental Health Act.<\/p>\n

A Mental Health Tribunal determined that he could be discharged but he was unable to settle at home and he was accepted as a respite placement by a care home with support from a team from EPUT. <\/p>\n

He was then transferred to another care home because his needs could not be met, this time with support from the North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT). <\/p>\n

Mr Flatt absconded from the home and was returned by the police but it was then decided to send him to Basildon Hospital because of his heart problems, where he he then had the fall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The investigation, commissioned by NHS England, found a series of failings in relation to Mr Flatt’s treatment and care:<\/p>\n