A 15-year-old girl with a history of mental health issues was put in an Alder Hey room where pills had been left in a drawer, according to her mum.
Kate* (not her real name) was picked up by police and taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital after a call from her mum who was concerned for her wellbeing.
Her mum Jess* was "gobsmacked" when she saw tablets in a bag in the drawer.
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She told the ECHO: "My child was admitted because she was trying to take her own life, and there were tablets in that room.
"That is a really dangerous situation, but it's not just a dangerous situation for my child. That might not have been my child in that room.
"That could have been a little, two-year-old child who thought it was a box of sweets'."
Jess said she was worried about alerting Kate to the pills' presence, and shut the drawer and stuck by her daughter's side for the four hours they were in that bedroom.
She also claimed the mental health team did not engage with Kate before she was discharged.
Jess said: "That day in the hospital, she didn't get to speak to someone.
"They came in and said, 'Well we've read your notes and we think that you need to change the way you think, so we're going to discharge you'.
"So not taking her seriously, but it's serious for me.
"It'd be serious if she ends up in the mortuary, wouldn't it?"
The "lovely" girl with a "heart of gold" who'd "give someone her last penny" has suffered with mental illness for three years.
Jess has called the police about her concerns for Kate twice before, but previously they had dropped her off at home instead of taking her to hospital as they did on Wednesday, December 15.
Her mum said: "They started with what you'd assume are normal teenage outbursts, but they always went a step too far.
"The screaming, the shouting, the refusing to do things, she'd throw things. And then she started harming herself."
Keeping up with her daughter's changing moods and the unknown reasons behind it has been a constant struggle for Jess.
Three years of doctor's appointments and visits to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) have provided no answers.
She told the ECHO: "One hour, she's gone into her room, she's looking in the mirror, she likes the way she looks.
"She's put a bit of makeup on, she's done her hair, she's dressed herself and she's quite happy. She'll take a picture of herself, and she's got a bit of self-love going on there.
"And an hour later, she hates herself, she hates everyone and she doesn't like anything about herself, and she can just sit there and cry for hours.
"When you ask her 'what's the matter', she doesn't know.
"She doesn't know why she feels like that."
Jess added: "It's heartbreaking. I try and do everything that I'm told to do - support her, cuddle her, speak to her, get her to open up.
"And sometimes we can have a good day and we can open up and we can feel a good connection, and other times she just closes off on me.
"I don't know what else I'm supposed to do."
Jess feels like a brick has been lifted off her shoulders knowing that her daughter is finally ready to open up and talk to a professional.
But she said that help isn't there now Kate is looking for it.
Speaking of Kate's hospital stay, Jess said: "She was admitted, and in that mind frame, she was like, 'Finally, we're getting somewhere, they're going to help me, they're going to speak to me, they're going to help me'.
"And then four hours later, she was discharged and sent on her way, with just that saying, 'Change the way you think'."
The mum said there'd be no such thing as mental illness if recovering was that easy.
She feels the support for her and her daughter is lacking, with CAMHS appointments cancelled in recent months, in part due to covid.
One appointment was cancelled since her hospital stay as she tested positive for the virus the day she was discharged.
In the meantime, Jess keeps blades locked in a safe and is scared to leave her daughter home alone while she goes to the shops.
Jess told the ECHO: "It's heartbreaking. I just don't know what else to do. It's a big circle. What happens next time?
"What if she cuts a bit deeper next time? What if she takes too many tablets next time? What if we don't get to the hospital in time?"
Jess filed a complaint with the hospital regarding the pills left in her daughter's room.
A spokesperson for the Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust told the ECHO: "We are unable comment on individual cases or complaints but we can confirm that any complaints made are thoroughly investigated."
