Inquest hears mental health patient took his own life (From Your Local Guardian)

Croydon Paranoid Schizophrenia hanged himself after relapse.

12:40pm Thursday 21st June 2012 in Top stories By Andrew Bloss

A paranoid schizophrenic hanged himself after suffering a relapse an inquest was told.

Carl Balcazar, 27, of Arnull’s Road, Thornton Heath, was found hanging in his room by his parents on Friday 3 last year.

At Croydon Coroner’s Court on Tuesday June 19, Dr Roy Palmer returned a verdict that Mr Balcazar killed himself whilst suffering from a psychotic illness.

Mr Balcazar had been attending the Tamworth Road Resource Centre, which offers support for people in Croydon with mental health problems.

He had a history of self-harming and had previously been in hospital for an attempted suicide, the inquest was told.

He first came into contact with the psychological services in 2003, and continued to be treated by the NHS until 2011.

Dr Nigel Tunstall, a consultant psychologist at the Tamworth Road Centre, said Mr Balcazar displayed many psychotic symptoms.

He said: “He displayed somewhat fluctuating psychological symptoms including anxiety, delusional beliefs among others.

“To some degree this pattern of symptoms continues from 2003 to 2011. He came into my care in 2005.

“I saw him personally in 2009 and reached the diagnosis that he had schizophrenia.”

Mr Balcazar’s mum, Mrs Patricia Balcazar, told the inquest that she had concerns about the standard of care her son received at the centre.

She questioned why there weren’t more discussions between the medical staff who treated Carl and his family.

Martin Collison, head of clinical pathway for recovery for the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, said since Carl’s death they had implemented new measures to improve the service.

Mrs Balcazar said: “The concerns we raised about Carl not having the benefit of seeing a senior psychologist after his relapses, the issues of poor time keeping and record keeping, seems to have been addressed.”

Dr Roy Palmer also said that Mr Balcazar’s death could not have been prevented.

He said: “It is sometimes difficult to predict the behaviour of people with this disease.

“You can’t just put on a stethoscope with this disease, the reliance is on the patient to tell you.

“One cannot say that it would not have happened if some things had changed.”