Sheffield Hallam student's family wants 'clear' mental health help

The family of a student who took his own life has called for "clear and concise" support for those suffering poor mental health while studying.

Oskar Carrick died in his Sheffield halls of residence on 19 June 2021.

His family believe he would "still be here" if there was a legal duty of care at Higher Education (HE) level, with a petition gaining 60,000 signatures.

The government said HE already had a general duty of care and, therefore, new laws would be "disproportionate".

Campaign group 'For the 100' recently held vigils across the UK to remember young people who have taken their own lives at university.

Unbeknown to his parents, 21-year-old Oskar had attempted to take his own life two months earlier in April 2021.

He later gave consent for university support services to contact his family and GP, but the university did not deem this to be retrospective so the family was not informed about the attempt.

Maxine Carrick, Oskar's mother, said the university and health services should have alerted them about their concerns.

"We're asking for something that is clear and concise, with the mental wellbeing of students at the forefront of what they're doing," she said.

"If somebody is in crisis or somebody is needing help or expressed suicidal thoughts then there's contact made and people know within that system who to pass it on to."

Oskar had left home to attend university as an "excited young person" looking to gain a career in film, his family said.

He suffered a brain injury 18 months before university during a road traffic collision, his family said, leaving him with memory issues.

If you are experiencing issues with mental health or self-harm, details of help and support are available here.

His family described him as a "sensitive, quirky, outgoing, and inquisitive young man" who "enjoyed travelling to Europe to watch the Tour de France".

His mother said Oskar was "let down" and they were "let down as a family".

"I had an awful moment where we sat there, as a family, and I said 'he didn't want to die'," she said.

"What if he thought we knew and we didn't care, because three weeks later - after that consent was given - he died."

Campaigners hope to gather the 100,000 required signatures they need to trigger a Westminster debate.

In a statement, Sheffield Hallam said: "We take supporting our students' mental health and wellbeing extremely seriously.

"In recent years we have significantly increased resources to provide access to a wide range of support services, whilst every student has access to dedicated advisers."

The Department for Education said: "HE providers do have a general duty of care to deliver educational and pastoral services to the standard of an ordinarily competent institution and, in carrying out these services, they are expected to act reasonably to protect the health, safety and welfare of their students.

"This can be summed up as providers owing a duty of care to not cause harm to their students through the university's own actions."

The spokesperson said recent ONS data showed a significantly lower suicide rate in HE students compared with the wider population of similar age, adding: "We, therefore, feel further legislation to create a statutory duty of care, where such a duty already exists, would be a disproportionate response."

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