Cramlington 12-year-old visited GP over self-harm concerns a year before death, inquest hears

A 12-year-old girl who took her own life was taken to a GP by her mother over self-harm concerns more than a year before her death, an inquest has heard.

Charley-Ann Patterson was found dead at her home in Cramlington, Northumberland, on 1 October 2020.

Her parents have previously said she was bullied and claimed she struggled to get mental health support in the last few months of her life.

On Tuesday 11 October, an inquest at Northumberland Coroner’s Court heard that Charley’s mother Jay Patterson took her to see a GP in June 2019 after an episode of self-harm.

Dr Hannah Hamilton, who at the time worked at Collingwood Health Group in North Shields, said she did not refer 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”.

“I asked her to rate her mood from one to 10, with 10 being very happy in herself,” she told the inquest.

“She told me it was 10 out of 10 at home and school, on that day she said it had been eight out of 10, purely because she hadn’t been waiting to come to the doctor’s surgery.

“I asked about the episode of self-harm and she said it was in response to an argument with a friend at school.“

"Following the consultation, as there had been no concerns raised at that time about depression or ongoing low mood, I agreed with mum and Charley that if there were any further concerns mum would book a follow-up appointment.“

"On reflection, because of subsequent events, I would have liked to have actively booked the appointment myself.”

Dr Hamilton added: “I had taken the consultation as being an individual episode of self-harm that was reactive to an argument with a friend, with no ongoing low mood or repeated self-harm at that time.

"Of course I appreciate with hindsight and seeing subsequent events that clearly, whether it be at that time or subsequently, there was certainly low mood and repeated self-harm.”

Dr Hamilton was asked about medical notes provided by Charley’s previous GP practice, Cramlington Medical Group, which included records from the school nursing service in January 2018 saying Charley had “thought about jumping off high things”.

The GP said she had never seen the records as the practice used a different electronic system, adding: “We would be reliant on healthcare professionals and school nurses flagging up any concerns.”

Asked whether her assessment would have changed if she had been aware of previous suicidal ideation, Dr Hamilton said: “It’s very hard to say, given this was over a year prior to me seeing her.”

The inquest continues.

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