Surgery apologises to mum after daughter's death

The mother of an East Sussex teenager who took her own life has received an apology from her daughter's GP surgery following a failed mental health referral.

Phoebe Macias, 14, was found dead at her home in Hastings in July. Her family claim she received no mental health support before her death.

She was taken to the Pebsham Surgery in Bexhill-on-Sea in January after she started to self-harm, but did not receive a referral to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in Sussex until April.

According to notes seen by the BBC, the GP surgery gave its "sincerest apologies" to Phoebe's mother Tamzin Abbott.

Ms Abbott said the meeting with the GP surgery on 12 December "went better than expected".

She told BBC South East: "When Phoebe first died, I was angry with everyone".

"If the referral had been made, Phoebe would still be here," Ms Abbott said.

"She said to me when she found out she hadn't been referred: 'What's the point? I might as well just die because no one cares'.

"How can I, as a mother, respond to that?"

The GP team said it would look at how to make the practice "more accessible and welcoming to teenagers and young adults".

It said it would look at how to "improve systems and processes to avoid a similar situation occurring in the future".

A post-mortem examination has taken place though a date has yet to be set for an inquest, the family said.

Ms Abbott said the surgery "apologised for what happened" and was going to look into it.

"They wanted to know ways that the surgery could move forward to prevent children's deaths and we are going to have future meetings," she said.

Ms Abbott said she missed Phoebe "dearly" and it was "so hard".

"Phoebe would be happy as her voice has been heard in improvements," she said.

The Labour MP for Hastings, Helena Dollimore, said: "We have more children in Sussex on NHS mental health waiting lists than ever before.

"We need more staff in the NHS to cut those waiting lists, so this government is hiring 8,500 more mental health staff.

"We are also bringing in mental health support staff into every school, so that every child can access support in their school."

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said it was "unacceptable that too many children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need".

"We know that waits for mental health services are far too long. We are determined to change that," they added.

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