Mum whose son died in care of the state urges other families to join call for statutory public inquiry into Essex mental health services.
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Melanie knew Matthew was not alone and the search for other failed families proved so.
Melanie says, ‘So many have died in the community and as inpatients with repeat failings being uncovered, it must stop’
Melanie has been campaigning for a Statutory Public Inquiry in to Essex Mental Health Services touching on ten years.
Melanie is joined by multiple families and this is a shout out to others.
NADINE DORRIES MP HAS ANNOUNCED HER COVER UP INQUIRY WHICH IS BEING COMMISSIONED. WE WILL ACCEPT NOTHING LESS THAN AN INQUIRY WITH STATUTORY POWERS TO COMPEL WITNESSES TO ATTEND AND EVIDENCE TO BE PRESENTED.
Melanie has now also given her support to a new group set up in Southend in the wake of a damning Ofsted report in 2018, which concluded some of the most vulnerable young people in Southend were being let down by Southend Council’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.
The group has grown to 1,700 members over the past year – disappointingly because little seems to have changed for parents who feel unsupported and let down.
Parents report long waits for children to be assessed by the education authority and Southend Clinical Commissioning Group to see if they have learning difficulties and thus entitled to a place in a special school.
Other children with a range of difficulties, from anxiety to autism, are given places at mainstream schools with mixed results.
Many end up being home schooled with parents saying they feel abandoned by the system.
A parent who asked not to be named said: “Home education has tripled in a year and services for our children either don’t exist at all or are run 1950s style so parents are having to fill the huge gaps in services somehow.
“Some children are simply left at home with no education or treatment for their anxiety at all, despite their parents frantically begging for these. Many aren’t even able to access an assessment for their autism. Many suffer quietly at school undiagnosed and unsupported.”
SEND CHILDREN ARE BEING FAILED ACROSS THE NATION AND MANY END UP IN OUR FAILING MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM.
WE MUST UNITE TO PUSH FOR THE CHANGES NEEDED FOR OUR PRESENT & FUTURE GENERATIONS.
CARE MUST BE COMPASSIONATE, KIND, SAFE AND AVAILABLE .MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN THIS COUNTRY ARE NONE OF THOSE THINGS AT THIS PRESENT TIME.
