A suicidal grandmother was left without a hospital bed for nine days before her granddaughter found her hanged at her home in Sherwood, an inquest has heard.
Pauline Binch, 64, of Kneeton Drive, had been battling with mental illness for many years and made several attempts to overdose in that time.
But on October 3, 2013, after waiting to be admitted as an inpatient because of the danger she posed to herself, Mrs Binch took her own life.
Giving evidence on the second day of the inquest at the Council House in Old Market Square, community psychiatric nurse Matthew Hallworth revealed the strain mental health resources are under in Nottingham.
"You can't present beds out of the air," he said. "There are finite resources.
"[But] we weren't aware it would go on for so long [for Mrs Binch]. It is unusual to wait as long as Pauline, not to say that it doesn't happen though.
"Sometime you need a bed and it is there, other times you have to wait for days."
Mrs Binch had been hospitalised in August 2013 for 11 days after setting fire to her own bathroom with her inside.
But despite the act, doctors at Highbury Hospital - a specialist mental health unit in Bulwell - believed she didn't need to be sectioned and could return home, even though her house was damaged by smoke and the gas had been switched off until repairs were carried out.
Throughout September, reports from visiting nurses continued to highlight her "chronic unhappiness" and "overpowering suicidal thoughts," and on September 23, Mrs Binch overdosed again.
A day later all parties were in agreement that an inpatient bed needed to be found for her.
But even with daily calls to the bed managers at the appropriate wards at Highbury Hospital and Queen's Medical Centre, Mrs Binch was still without a place.
The community nurses continued to call or visit her daily whilst chasing her bed, but on the morning of October 3, Mr Hallsworth didn't get a response at the door.
He said: "In retrospect, I wish I had tried the door and in the future it will always be in the back of my mind, even if it would have made no difference."
Her granddaughter, 22-year-old Nicky Haynes, spoke to her grandmother in the morning but later found her dead after letting herself into the house.
"She was always going into hospital with pains no-one could find and she always felt better when she went home and was always happier," said Miss Haynes.
"I just thought it was a cry for help and every time she reassured me she wouldn't do it again."
The inquest is set to continue tomorrow.