A SUFFOLK man suffering from depression and anxiety discussed suicide methods with a mental health nurse days before he was found dead, an inquest heard.

Anthony Mizon, 59, was found with a slashed throat in the shed of his home in Downton Drive, Haverhill, by his son Trevor, on September 22, 2011.

The inquest into his death, which began on Tuesday, heard of his family’s frustrations at trying to get him the right help.

Mr Mizon, who had a long history of anxiety, was admitted to the Wedgewood Unit at the site of West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds, from May 4 to June 5, 2011.

When he was discharged he became under the care of the Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team (CRHTT) and his care was then transferred to the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) in Haverhill.

His family expressed concerns over his discharge from the Wedgewood Unit, changes to his medication and that their fears were not being taken seriously enough.

Mr Mizon - who attempted suicide while at the Wedgewood Unit - spoke to Maria Perez-Pedrero, a community mental health nurse at the CMHT in Haverhill, on September 12, about suicide methods.

Ms Perez-Pedrero said: “I don’t think at that time he had the intention to do it.”

She referred him to consultant psychiatrist Dr Amanda Elkin, who cancelled her diary to see him.

Dr Elkin also saw him the day before he died. She said: “He did acknowledge he had improved. He clearly wasn’t better and none of us thought that was the case.”

She added how she could not see how her management would have changed at that appointment.

Coroner Dr Peter Dean said: “There is a sense here first and foremost of the incredibly difficult time the family have gone through with a sense of not being listened to at various times.

“There is also a picture that we got of a system in a sense under some strain because of the lack of resources in particular in terms of the home treatment team.”

He added while it was not in the notes Mr Mizon had talked about specific suicide methods with Ms Perez-Pedrero, she was worried enough to make the consultant cancel her diary that morning.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Richard O’Flynn added the family’s concerns were not recorded in the clinical records, but note-taking was being addressed.

Police found there was no evidence of suspicious circumstances surrounding Mr Mizon’s death.

The inquest continues.