Grieving For Our Child Who Experienced Mental Health Problem

One of a series of leaflets published by The Compassionate Friends Issues with health services We may have issues with the health care our child was given. No matter how many well-meaning individuals there are within the NHS, there are sometimes issues with the GP referral service, or delivery of hospital or community mental health care. For instance, we may feel the treatment that our child was offered did not help them. If our child had to move from the children’s mental health team (CAMHS) to the local adult service, there may have been problems with the upheaval this change brought. If our child was under the care of adult mental health services, we may have been excluded from discussions about their problems, care or treatment. Alternatively, our child might have reached out for help from a doctor or another professional but then struggled to access the support they needed. In addition, we may feel that our child’s physical health needs received insufficient attention. Any of this might leave us feeling let down, angry and frustrated. Sometimes it can help to have a conversation with those who were involved in our child’s care. If this does not bring resolution, we might consider making an official complaint. If we decide to do this, we should be aware that the complaints process can be lengthy and complex. It will require us to focus on the most difficult aspects of our child’s life and care, and this can prolong the acute pain of our grief. On the other hand, the process has the potential to improve health services for future users. This could help us feel that something positive has come out of the tragedy of our child’s death. For more on this, see the TCF Leaflet on Making a Complaint About the NHS .