Suicidal children are being sent home because hospitals are busy – but there is another way

Instead of discharging young people to their family homes, there is a need and appetite for community residential settings away from hospital, writes Chris Hampson

The story is – in equal measure – deeply sad and alarmingly common (AFP via Getty Images)

“I felt lonely and just petrified that I was going to lose my son in the worst possible way.” This was a harrowing testimony from a teenager’s mother, as she described to a roomful of health and social care professionals what happened when an A&E department sent her son home, aged 16, despite his clear spoken intention to take his own life.

The story is – in equal measure – deeply sad and alarmingly common. The research we launched this week drew on a series of in-depth interviews with young people, parents, carers, and more than 20 NHS and social care staff from a range of different NHS Trusts and health organisations across England.

Our findings show that, with nowhere else to turn, accident and emergency departments have become the go-to point for young people suffering mental health crises. Their parents arrive at hospital, hoping upon hope that someone will “scoop-up” their child and help them get better.