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A desperate mum has written a heartbreaking letter to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt in a desperate bid to get help for her 13-year-old daughter.

Nicola Dye's eldest child Olivia has tried to kill herself four times in seven weeks - and on the most recent occasion on a children's ward .

She released a distressing image of the teenager in her hospital bed moments after the suicide attempt in a picture which shames child mental health services .

Nicola, 34, wants Sunday Mirror readers to see for themselves the effect of Olivia’s shocking care – or, rather, lack of it.

Our footage shows the mother-of-three reading her open letter to the Health Secretary begging him to improve funding for NHS teams caring for young people suffering conditions like depression and bipolar disorder.

(Image: Sunday Mirror)

Blaming Tory cuts, Nicola said: “It’s the most horrendous feeling of panic, anger, worry and concern to know your child has tried to kill themselves.

"It’s like a pressure cooker waiting for her to do something else, wondering what’s going to happen next.

“Her doctor told us they should have 25 mental health staff but they have five. It’s appalling.”

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Olivia spent six months in an eating disorder clinic after she was diagnosed with anorexia last year.

Her family – Olivia has two younger sisters and stepdad Eric is a firefighter – then moved from Watford, Herts, to Crewe, Cheshire, hoping a fresh start would help .

But Olivia’s mental state deteriorated. She gets just an hour a week with a therapist and is prescribed pills for depression.

(Image: Nicola Dye) (Image: Sunday Mirror)

It has been suggested she has border-line personality disorder.

Olivia has been repeatedly admitted to A&E for suicidal thoughts, self-harming and overdosing.

Nicola said Olivia is usually transferred to a children’s ward until she can be seen by a member of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services team.

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But the team doesn’t cover out of hours or weekends.

And on her last admission to Leighton Hospital, Crewe, Olivia attempted to kill herself after waiting five days to be seen by a mental health professional.

She was admitted on a Thursday and only seen by an expert the next Tuesday.

(Image: Nicola Dye) (Image: Nicola Dye)

A doctor said no more could be done and she was being discharged with her normal medication.

It pushed Olivia over the edge and, while alone, she grabbed a fortnight’s worth of her pills from Nicola’s bag and took the lot. Thankfully, it did not prove fatal.

Nicola said: “She feels no one can help her. She was so frustrated that she’d waited so long to be told no more can be done.

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“When your child is in crisis out of office hours there is nothing more than A&E.

“But we have sat in a busy A&E countless times that hasn’t got the staff or the space to help us.

"One time, Olivia grabbed my handbag which had some paracetamol in and tried to lock herself in the bathroom.

(Image: Nicola Dye) (Image: Nicola Dye)

“I kept telling the receptionist my daughter was distressed but was told it was too busy and there is no out-of-hours child mental health team.

"Being in that environment, with bright lights, people screaming in pain and with doctors and nurses rushed off their feet, is absolutely not the right setting for someone who is having a mental health crisis, and definitely not a child.”

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Nicola has set up her own campaign to help the one in 10 youngsters affected by mental health issues.

And in her letter to Mr Hunt she asks: “You wouldn’t leave a child in physical pain, but for some reason it’s okay to leave a child in mental pain. Why?”

(Image: Nicola Dye) (Image: Nicola Dye)

The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition said funding needed to be distributed more evenly.

A spokesman said: “We need a concerted effort to improve access to CAMHS.

"Failure to do so is destroying people’s lives and the life chances of the next generation.”

A spokesman for the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are working to provide the best services possible within allocated funding.”

To find out how you can help make children's mental health a priority, visit Change.org

Read Nicola's heartbreaking letter in full...

"Dear Mr Hunt,

"I'm writing as a mother who is absolutely desperate to get help for her child. My daughter Olivia is 13 and the eldest of my three daughters. She's beautiful, kind, caring and absolutely adored by her little sisters and lives with myself and my partner who is a firefighter.

"Last year Olivia spent six months in an eating disorder clinic being treated for anorexia and her milestone 13th birthday being fed via an NG tube. It was devastating as a mother and it broke my heart but I knew she was being looked after.

"When people meet Olivia they say how lovely she is - how tall she is, how pretty she is, that she is funny and caring. But what they don't see is a girl who lives in torment every day.

"Olivia despises herself. She can't bear to look at herself. She worries about everything. Her feelings and thoughts become too much, so much so that since the beginning of this year, in the space of seven weeks, Olivia has had four hospital admissions to A&E via ambulance for distressing feelings, thoughts of suicide, self harming and overdosing.

(Image: Nicola Dye)

"It’s been suggested now she has borderline personality disorder (BPD). It's the most horrendous feeling of panic, anger, worry and concern to know your child has tried to kill themselves and sit in an ambulance feeling absolutely helpless knowing that the hospital might patch Olivia up physically but there is nothing that they can do to help her with these thoughts and feelings.

"We have sat in a busy A&E department countless times that hasn't got the staff or the space to help us. Being in A&E with all the bright lights, alarms ringing, people having heart attacks, people violently vomiting, people drunk with trollies taking up every inch of space, people screaming in pain while doctors, nurses and health care assistants are rushed off their feet - is absolutely not the right setting for someone who is having a mental health crisis and definitely not a child.

"The staff want to help but can’t. They are massively over stretched and they don't have the time. I was unaware until a cousin of mine, who is a paediatric nurse in London, told me she hadn’t had any mental health training. She’s learnt on the job and nurses don’t have the time to deal with these types of patients. How shocking is that?

(Image: Nicola Dye)

"Hospitals are the only place you can go in a crisis. Staff don’t even have the training to look after a vulnerable child and they don’t have the time.

"After being in A&E your child is transferred to the children’s ward until a member of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) team can come and assess, usually the next day, but on one occasion we had to wait four days.

"Four days in a room for my daughter to sit and wait knowing that no one would be able to help her and that she’d be sent home. She took an overdose on the ward after being discharged and she felt nobody could help her, as she was so frustrated that she had waited so long to be told nothing more could be done.

"There aren't the services Olivia needs, you personally as Health Minister are failing her and thousands of other children. I have received letter after letter telling me all too similar stories from distraught parents from all over the country.

"You wouldn't leave a child to wait in physical pain , it would be unethical, morally wrong people would be outraged. But for some reason it's ok to leave a child in mental pain. Can you please tell me why?

(Image: Nicola Dye)

"My daughter is distraught as she thinks nobody can help her, that she's not important and that she's just wasting people's time in hospital as they are so busy. She feels guilty about it and it reinforces all the negativity she feels. I know how hard her CAMHS team work and how much they care, they are truly dedicated, lovely people.

"I was told they are a team of 5 and they should be 25. How are you allowing this? How are your government allowing a service that looks after the most vulnerable children in our society to run like this?

"Because of a deficit that wasn't caused by these children? It's beyond unbelievable . This is why Olivia's not getting the therapy that she needs, why there are no out of hours teams, why there isn't day centres available , why she feels such a burden . I want to know who is responsible for this.

"Who is going to put their hand up and take responsibility. As a mum I don't know who makes these decisions who is responsible and who can change this but I want to see a difference to my child’s care, to our family and for all the families who face the daily struggle.

"Talk is cheap actions speak. I wonder how you would feel or David Cameron of Alistair Burt if it were your child?

"If your child was in a system that wasn't helping and so broken you despair and you can't say to your child, everything's going to be ok, as you've lost hope and faith in an NHS that's at crisis point and doesn't and isn't capable of helping a young problem with their mental health.

"I'm inviting you to meet my family and personally explain to us what you are going to do to resolve this silent epidemic that is happening."

Nicola.