Turned away from hospital
to go home because she thought she was going to harm herself.
“They say people aren’t seeking help but then they do and they are turned away.
“That would put anybody off going to ask for help — not just a child.”
The mum-of-four was forced to seek immediate help for Breehann after an incident last weekend.
“Breehann was out with her friends and was feeling pretty low when she went away by herself,” said Lorraine.
“She was taking a bit too long and her friends went to find her, when they found her she was turning blue.
“She is autistic and thinks that if she dies she will come back.
“She doesn’t fully understand death.”
Police officers whisked Breehann off to hospital where she was seen by mental health professionals but released and advised to attend an appointment with CAMHS.
Lorraine continued:“they told her if there was anything at all she could go straight back and there would be help there.”
Lorraine took Breehann back to the hospital the next day when her mood worsened and she told her mum she felt compelled to harm herself.
“We waited in the hospital for nearly two hours then they took her in and spoke to her for about three minutes herself,”said Lorraine.
“They told me to take her home, that I had to be responsible for her, and that they weren’t equipped to deal with children’s mental health.
“If it was an adult they would have probably kept her in.
“I told them I didn’t want my daughter to be just another statistic.”
Lorraine openly admits that Breehann has struggled over the last few years and has previously self-harmed.
She revealed:“breehann has always had periods of low mood and has sometimes self-harmed but never to this extent.
“I can’t watch her every move. I have four children and the youngest is 17 months.
“What happens if I go to settle him in bed?
“It felt quite degrading when they told me I had to be‘responsible for her’.
“They sent us away and never even gave me as much as a phone number to call — nothing.”
Lorraine insists that more has to be done to help young people struggling with mental health issues and feeling suicidal.
“With the amount of people in the area it’s happened to, why is there no one atwishaw General equipped for that?
“They could maybe have a ward, or even a room set aside.”
NHS Lanarkshire told thewishaw Press that young people are assessed by experienced and qualified clinicians, and that admission to specialist units is possible.
However, on this occasion staff felt in-patient admission wasn’t appropriate and dealt with the matter appropriately.
Jim Murray, service manager of Children’s Services, said:“our records indicate that a referral by the psychiatric liaison service was made to CAMHS and responded to within 24 hours.
“We regret any instance where someone feels we have failed to provide the highest standards of care.
“If someone has a concern, we would encourage them to contact us through our formal complaints process.
“We would be happy to meet with the family to discuss these concerns.”