Samantha Merrilees, from Falkirk, says her son Scott was left waiting for nearly a year for mental health treatment before he took his own life aged 16.
A mum has told how her teenage son was denied urgent mental health care in the months before he took his life- despite repeated suicide attempts.
Samantha Merrilees, 46, said her 16-year-old son Scott was failed by the system and left waiting nearly a year for specialist help while his condition deteriorated.
The grieving parent spoke to the Record about the state of Child and Adolescent Mental Health services in Scotland (CAMHS) after a recent report showed young people have been left waiting more than 4.5 million days for treatment since 2019.
Samantha hit out at the figures, branding them “a disgrace” as she gave her harrowing account of her fight to keep her son alive.
She told the Record: “Scott died five years ago in desperate need of help and the latest figures are disgusting.
“They show that drastic changes are needed and the system is not fit for purpose.
“It’s a disgrace that kids are still being turned away and that they aren’t being heard, taken seriously or supported.”
Scott, from Falkirk, died aged 16 on January 1, 2021 – just six days before his 17th birthday.
The talented sportsman played in youth squads for Falkirk FC, Hearts, Rangers and Partick Thistle, as well as local sides Syngenta Juveniles and LK Galaxy.
And after moving from football into boxing in 2018, he quickly excelled and became Scottish Amateur Boxing Champion within a year.
After leaving St Mungo’s High School in Falkirk in 2020, he started work as an apprentice joiner for his dad, David.
Samantha continued: “Scott was a popular boy and had loads of friends.
“He was doing well in sport and work.
“But he had a cancer scare at age 12 when a tumour was removed from his bladder and then he began struggling with his mental health.”
Scott developed paranoia when he was 15 but his symptoms were dismissed as “teenage hormones”.
She added: “I went to the GP and they told me he was hormonal.
“But he later confided in a family member that he had been self-harmig and walked out in front of a car.
“I phoned the NHS straight away and took Scott to hospital. I asked them to keep him in, to keep him safe.
“I didn’t know what else to do.”
But Scott was discharged and sent back to his GP surgery where he was given medication and a referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
A few months later, Scott was found attempting to buy suicide materials in a shop. Staff refused the sale out of concern.
Samantha said: “He slept in my bed that night and the GP changed his medication and marked his referral as urgent, but we were warned it could still take up to 18 weeks just to receive a letter.”
Instead, Scott remained on a waiting list for 11 months, receiving only brief telephone calls every couple of weeks.
Samantha claims that during that time, CAMHS also attempted to discharge him twice.
She said: “They kept saying he wasn’t ill enough for immediate support, but he was getting worse and worse.”
Samantha believes that her son had developed psychosis.
She added: “He thought he was being filmed 24/7 and thought people could read his thoughts when he made eye contact.”
Scott finally received CAMHS appointment on December 21, 2020.
During the appointment, Scott told the clinician that he believed people could read his thoughts but his mum said a recording of the assessment reported that he appeared well, had “good eye contact”.
He was advised to return after four weeks.
Nine days later, Scott was dead.
Samantha said critical opportunities to save her son were missed.
She continued: “If Scott had been properly assessed, I honestly believe he would still be here today.
“We begged for help for so long and wasn’t heard.”
Samantha spoke out amidst the Record’s Save Young Lives campaign to back our demands that waiting times are cut for children’s mental health services and that suicide prevention to be taught in schools to help educate kids in a crisis.
Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie described Scott’s case as “scandalous”.
She said: “My thoughts are with Samantha and her family. They should not have had to go through this experience.
“Sadly, the reality is that far too many young people are facing painfully long waits for CAMHS treatment, with thousands being turned away.
“It is scandalous that they are being failed in this way.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton added that the details of Scott’s case are “barbaric”.
He said: “This is a tragedy that should never have happened, and my thoughts are with Scott’s friends and family, particularly his mother, Samantha, who has shown an incredible amount of bravery in speaking about this.
“Scott’s experience illustrates that we are dealing with a broken system in urgent need of repair.
“It is impossible to fathom how Scott could have been neglected like this. It is inhuman, barbaric and wrong.”
In response to Scott’s death, the family set up The Scott Martin Foundation to support young people struggling with their mental health.
The charity provides funded counselling and therapy sessions for children who need immediate help. The foundation has already supported more than 200 children in Falkirk, funded entirely through community donations.
“Parents or children can refer themselves and get help straight away,” she said. “If someone asks for help, they will get it.”
The Scottish Government declined to comment.
An NHS Forth Valley spokesperson said: “Significant investment has been made in developing and improving mental health services and support for children and young people across the area. This, along with other changes in the way services are designed and delivered, has resulted in NHS Forth Valley having some of the lowest waiting times in Scotland for CAMHS and it has met or exceeded the national waiting times target since February 2024.”
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