A mother has criticised the Government for failing to provide mental health support to children after her 12-year-old daughter took her own life, Chronicle Live reports. Charley Ann Patterson, from Northumberland, hanged herself at her home after suffering from bullying.
There has been a noticeable increase in children looking for self-harm and anxiety support, an inquest into Charley's death heard. Children being referred to mental health services for emotional wellbeing had dramatically increased from one a week to one a shift.
With the issue intensifying, Senior Coroner Andrew Hetherington said he would write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who was Therese Coffey at the time. Despite three months passing, Charley's mum Jay, 37, has said they are yet to hear from anyone.
The mum-of-five said: "The Government is on a bit of a go-slow at the moment. It's like hitting a brick wall every time I try to speak to them. I think it's not being taken seriously. It's a lot of words - that's all it seems to be. Unless you are there, and knocking on their door 24/7, they are not going to pay attention. I don't think half of them listen to be honest.
"We had Covid as an excuse, then came the change of the Government. What's going to be tomorrow's excuse? I think they should be a lot more proactive and upping their game a lot more. There's not enough support."
Jay, along with husband Paul, 40, have been campaigning for a law change to ensure every child gets the mental health care they need within time limits. They want to see:
- All first appointments with children's mental health services take place within a month of referral
- Weekly support meetings
- More regular meetings with all key players in a child's life, including doctors, parents, teachers and social services.
The couple have touchingly dubbed the suggestions "Charley's Law".
Jay, who works in administration, said: "It seems to be at a stalemate at the moment. I can't move forward without parliament and they are not interested. We have literally just got the coroner's word that he's written the letter. We thought this was going to be our pathway through, but it's not like that."
He said that prior to Charley's inquest the pair had a meeting with Gillian Keegan, Minister of State for Care and Mental Health, to tell her the suggestions, but have not heard anything since. She said: "They were a bit shocked by how much of an issue to is. They thought it was an issue for middle aged men rather than kids. They didn't seem to realise about the north - south divide. They said they are going to implement it in schools and nothing has come of it.
"We are supposed to have had meetings and these meetings have been cancelled and no one gets back to you. I feel like Charley's Law needs to be pushed more."
Jay said she is also facing struggles with her mental health, and believes there should be more support available in schools and workplaces. Charley's parents have worked to help others facing similar issues by running 'Charley's coffee and chat' sessions on the last Thursday of each month.
The inquest into her death heard how she suffered from low mood and anxiety in relation to friendship difficulties, the Covid-19 lockdown, and other influences. She had reached out to health services after self harming on two different occasions.
After harming herself for the second time Charley told a nurse that she had suffered from cyber bullying and could not reconcile with her friends due to the Covid lockdown, Northumberland Coroner's Court heard.
A workbook in her bedroom contained notes which said: "I'm going to kill myself" and "It will be quick, one more step". A television was also paused on a screen which said "Am I a misfit?".
The hearing also heard how she was sent a message which said: "You're useless, you can't even kill yourself properly".
A plan was made to refer Charley to the Northumberland early help hub but the referral was never processed by the trust. It was incorrectly assumed a referral had already been made, when in reality it was to be made after a follow-up appointment.
Coroner Hetherington said: "It’s not possible to say, if those steps had been undertaken, whether the outcome would have been any different. We are already investing an extra £2.3 billion a year into mental health services by 2023/24, meaning an additional 345,000 children and young people will by then be able to access NHS-funded mental health support.
“Support in school is also vital, and we are committed to increasing the number of mental health support teams to almost 400 by April 2023, providing support to three million children and young people.”
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