Inquest opens into death of Cramlington girl who struggled with mental health issues
Charley-Ann Patterson took her own life in October 2020, after being told she might have to wait 3 years for help
Last updated 12th Oct 2022
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An inquest into the death of 12 year old Charley-Ann Patterson, from Cramlington, has been underway today.
Charley took her own life in October 2020, after being told she might have to wait up to 3 years to get mental health support.
Metro Radio has campaigned with Charley's mum, Jay Patterson, to try and reduce waiting times for young people needing mental health support, under #CharleysCampaign.
Today, the inquest, at Northumberland Coroners Court, heard Charley said she was being "isolated" online and "couldn't try to reconcile" with her friends because she was stuck at home during the Covid-19 lockdown,
Her parents have previously said she was bullied and claimed she struggled to get mental health support in the months before her death.
Northumberland Coroner's Court also heard that Charley attended A&E with her mother on May 29 over concerns about cuts to her arm.
Advanced paediatric nurse practitioner Rachel Bell said Charley "mentioned bullying and a bit of isolation at school and online".
She told the inquest: "When kids get bullied at school, they often get a bit of relief from it at home. She talked about how that followed her home because we were in the middle of lockdown.
"When (friends) were blocking her out online she couldn't go to them at school to try and reconcile. She was feeling quite isolated.
"She did talk about how she had recently moved schools and there had been a bit of a breakdown of a friendship there, some nasty things may have been said by that student once she left.
"She said there had been some sort of altercation with a friend's brother and the police had gotten involved - that had caused arguments with that friend, but I can't remember if that was the reason for her being isolated by other students.
"It sounded like she had quite a lot going on from a peer perspective.
"A friend from a previous school, when Charley had tried to reach out to them, said they never wanted to be friends with Charley in the first place and a teacher had made them. She seemed really hurt about that."
Ms Bell told the inquest Charley also spoke about questioning her sexuality, not liking the way she looked and "feeling she needed to punish herself because of the way she felt about herself".
She said she spoke to Charley for around an hour after her attendance at A&E, and a referral was automatically made to the psychiatric liaison team, who arrived later that night to talk to her.
Describing Charley as "really friendly", Ms Bell said: "I felt I got a good rapport with her. She seemed quite happy to engage with services.
"I knew that there was things going on that needed to be addressed but I wasn't concerned at that point there was a fear for her life.
"We discussed whether that had been her intention at that point and she said it hadn't.
"When I found out it was Charley that had died, she wasn't a name I was expecting to hear, it came as quite a shock to me. She seemed really willing to engage with services.
"She was not someone I had on my radar as being someone I was majorly concerned about."
The inquest also heard evidence from Dr Hannah Hamilton, who saw Charley in June 2019 after her mother took her to a GP after an episode of self-harm.
Dr Hamilton, who at the time worked at Collingwood Health Group in North Shields, said she had not referred Charley to secondary mental health services after the appointment as the schoolgirl had described her mood as "10 out of 10" and said she had self-harmed after an argument with a friend.
Dr Hamilton said this had been "the first self-harm episode known to the family" and there had been "no further self-harm since".
The inquest continues.