Teenage girl, 17, dies after struggling with her mental health during Covid lockdowns
A 17-year-old girl who struggled with mental health issues during the coronavirus lockdowns tragically died after being struck by a train.
An inquest at Blackpool Town Hall heard how the teenager, from Fleetwood, was first referred to CAMHS in March 2020. Consultant Alji-Mohamed Samir, consultant psychiatrist with Children and Adult Mental Health Services In Patient services at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, said Holly then came to hospital with low mood and suicidal thoughts in May.
At the doctor’s third meeting with her, he said she seemed to be engaging in activities and had not self harmed since admission, although she had previously said she had thought of self harming daily. Holly returned for a home visit, from June 3 to 8, with considerable risk assessments, support and advice on how to keep herself safe, but said she did not want to return home when she came back to the Cove on June 9, as the doctor said she told him she did not want to burden her mum.
Asked if the lockdown had impacted on provision of services that she received, the doctor said: "I would not say lockdown had a major effect on her health care." However, when pressed on whether the lockdown itself had had any impact by Assistant Coroner Andrew Cousins, the doctor said: "She started feeling guilty because her friend had mental health issues - she felt responsible.
However, she said she was affected by the environment on the ward, since she was seeing other patients who were regularly talking about self harming and were in the vicinity bearing visible scars of this, which was one of the reasons that she did not want to remain on the ward, he added. Ms Warwick explained that there was a risk that the intervention, if perceived by the young person to not be working, could be harmful in the long run. Family therapy would have been one other solution in early 2020, the hearing heard, but a member of staff was not available to do it, although that was no longer the case at the service.
The matter was immediately reported, the train stopped, and emergency services called but sadly, Holly could not be saved by paramedics. Doctor Suboda Weerasinghe, consultant at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said bleeding and fractures were found, and he believed Holly had died from multiple injuries.Help and support Samaritans samaritans.org operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year.