Prince William launches sport mental health toolkit
Prince William launches sport mental health toolkit. Prince William urges sport at every level to make suicide prevention part of its culture through a new nationwide toolkit called On Your Side.
What happened
Image source, Family handoutImage caption, Hugo was strangled to death while staying in an NHS mental health unitByJames Melley, Senior social affairs producer and Alison Holt , Social affairs editorPublished4 hours agoStaff falsified records, slept and were on their phones on the night one patient was killed by another on an NHS mental health unit in east London, an inquest has heard. Hugo Flint-Cahan, 34, was being treated at Newham Mental Health Centre (NMHC), run by the East London NHS Trust (ELFT), when he was fatally attacked by 22-year-old Rolando Torres-Pena.
Events leading up to Hugo's deathImage source, East London NHS TrustImage caption, CCTV footage shows the last image of Hugo aliveOn the night of Hugo's death, there were two nurses and a nursing assistant on duty on Topaz ward – an inpatient unit for men with acute mental health issues. Brian Dow of the mental health charity, Rethink, is calling for a national register of patient safety to keep tabs on the type of care mental health units across the country are providing.
"Related topicsHealthMore on this storyMental health care centre killer is sentencedPublished16 November 2023 Image caption, Emily Pearson has worked in the mental health arena for 27 yearsByDuncan LeatherdaleNorth East and CumbriaPublished10 September 2026Having devoted her life to improving people's mental health after her own struggles, Emily Pearson has set her sights on getting businesses to prioritise employees' well-being. See it as their problemImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Emily says everyone carries a metaphorical backpackThursday is World Suicide Prevention Day, an annual reminder of why appreciating mental health is so important, Emily says.
The wider picture
Companies have a legal duty of care for their employees, external, Emily, from Burnhope near Durham, says, which includes their mental as well as physical health and safety. She left school at 16 with no GCSEs, fell into "doing drugs and stuff", became a young single mother exposed to domestic violence and developed mental health issues including anorexia and panic disorder. In her early 20s she says she got help which not only saved her life but also inspired her to forge a career in mental health, from organising youth discos in Bishop Auckland to focusing on employers.
Workers' bosses can have "more of an impact on people's mental health and well-being" than they realise, Emily says. " Mental health leaders also need to be on a par with directors at the board level, Emily says, cultural change has to start at the top. "We've seen mental health and well-being as just like very generic, a one size fits all approach," she says. Emily says a lot of businesses may feel they are "doing well", appointing mental health first aiders, holding awareness raising days, but "activity doesn't equal impact".
"Saying mental health and well-being is important to us is very different to a board making decisions focused around how this is going to impact our staff.
What has been reported
Contact formContact formRelated topicsMental healthHealthCompaniesEmploymentBishop AucklandLanchesterDurhamMore like this'I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Hollyoaks'Published7 days agoSuicide bereaved carry Baton of Hope through cityPublished10 September 2025 Unsafe and unacceptableHugo's father, William Flint Cahan, who has attended each day of the inquest with other family members, says there was "complacency" by staff, as well as a lack of care. But it should not just be seen as an onerous requirement, she says, as a healthier workforce means fewer days lost through sickness – almost 9% of workplace ill health in 2025 was stress related, according to the Office for National Statistics, external.
Hugo's family say they have been shocked by the "dangerous" failures in his care. The Trust told the coroner they had addressed some of the issues raised in the inquest, and are launching an investigation into the staff whose failings have been identified. In a narrative conclusion, the coroner found Hugo was unlawfully killed which was contributed to by neglect, recommended four members of staff be referred to their regulator and that the Metropolitan police review their investigation into what happened that night.
Hugo, who had been a patient at the NHMC for six months, was strangled in the early hours of 3 January 2023 by Torres-Pena who had arrived on the ward five days earlier. Torres-Pena pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
What happens next
He was given a hospital order without time limit. A coroner criticised repeated failures by the Trust in a number of patient deaths – not just Hugo's. Graeme Irvine, the Senior Coroner for East London, said it was like "ground hog day" as he heard evidence of "the same" errors, "over and over again," including the falsification of patient observation records and slow emergency responses. Torres-Pena was pacing the corridor believing he was about to leave, the inquest was told.
CCTV shows him following one of the nurses at one point. After 01:00, Hugo is seen wandering the corridor on his own. It's thought he went into Torres-Pena's room shortly afterwards.
The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across bbc.co.uk. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.