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Care Opinion

Children deserve better than this

Posted By MrsD1980

"Children deserve better than this"

About: General Practices in Grampian Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital / Child and Family Mental Health Services

(as a parent/guardian),

My young daughter is extremely ill. I originally reached out for help 4 years ago due to my concerns for her mental health, and she has deteriorated so badly I make no light of it when I say I fear for her safety and life.

Being seen and moved through several departments within RACH CAMHS finally saw her in October, and said she would be seen again towards the end of this year for an ASD assessment. This would be completely accepted by me if she did not have other acute mental health issues which she needs help for now. An ASD assessment is not priority at the moment, saving her life is.

My extremely supportive GP has been contacting CAMHS on a near weekly basis to ask them to see her immediately due to their concerns about her welfare. We almost lost her last week due to a panic attack which could have had disastrous consequences due to the situation she put herself in. The GP came to see her last week as my daughter is too terrified to leave the house, and it isn’t safe to take her in the car due to previous incidents.

The GP was heartbroken at how my daughter has been allowed to deteriorate to this point. She has seen private psychologists who are in agreement with the GP that she urgently needs anxiety meds. The GP asked CAMHS if they could be authorised to prescribe meds to her until CAMHS can see her, and this was denied. I am genuinely at a loss with this decision.

I am scared I’m going to lose my daughter, before she has even been seen by CAMHS again. I’m so sad, but also extremely angry that this is being allowed to happen, children deserve better than this. 

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Responses

Response from Siobhan Crawford, Interim Service Manager, CAMHS & PIMHS, NHS Grampian 11 months ago
We are preparing to make a change
Siobhan Crawford
Interim Service Manager, CAMHS & PIMHS,
NHS Grampian

My role in Child and Adolescent Mental Health is to develop and improve pathways for young people to ensure they receive the most appropriate care at the right time.

Submitted on 02/06/2023 at 13:36
Published on Care Opinion at 13:41

Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback on your experience. We are sorry that you are going through this difficult time and are not feeling supported by us. We would be grateful for the opportunity to speak to you directly to understand your story further and provide support where possible. If you can provide your contact details to gram.camhs@nhs.scot FAO:Amanda Farquharson, Service Manager.

We understand that you are going through a difficult time and should you wish not to get in touch at the moment, we would welcome your feedback at any time. We will take on board the feedback that you have already provided to us and use this to make improvements to our service. We take on board your very real concerns about the wait to see a CAMHS clinician and the preference for medication and treatment prior to the ASD assessment.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Siobhan Crawford, Interim Service Manager, CAMHS & PIMHS, NHS Grampian 6 months ago
We have made a change
Siobhan Crawford
Interim Service Manager, CAMHS & PIMHS,
NHS Grampian

My role in Child and Adolescent Mental Health is to develop and improve pathways for young people to ensure they receive the most appropriate care at the right time.

Submitted on 30/10/2023 at 09:29
Published on Care Opinion at 09:31

We would like to provide an update on how we have taken on board your feedback in our service.

We are in the process of redesigning our Neurodevelopmental (ND) pathway. Previously, patients such as your daughter and your family would have gone straight from referral into an ND pathway which is likely where you will have waited for a specialist appointment.

Recently we have made the change that patients will come through the normal choice and partnership route (CAPA) meaning that all mental health concerns will be looked at together and a clinician will be able to prioritise support for the patient such as your daughters panic attacks or looking at medication.

We are continuing to look at improving the overall pathway for children and young people with Neurodevelopmental issues and are working with our CAMHS focus group of care experienced parents/ carers to do this.

We would still welcome your further feedback, if you are willing please can you provide your contact details to gram.camhs@nhs.scot FAO: Amanda Farquharson, Service Manager, and we can get in touch with you.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by MrsD1980 (a parent/guardian)

I really appreciate that my feedback has been listened to, and I very much welcome this update on how the pathway is being redesigned. This will hopefully reduce other children’s situations becoming as critical as my daughters became.

As traumatic as the past few months have been, the care she is finally receiving now from CAMHS has been exceptionally supportive, for both her and our family as a whole. The two members of the team who are currently dealing with her referral have been our lifeline, and for that I’m so grateful.

It’s unfortunate the events that led us to this point, but with these proposed changes to the pathway, I’m hopeful other children’s experiences may be different in the future. I will pass my feedback onto Amanda as requested.

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