“He Doesn’t Meet the Criteria” — But Where Does That Leave a 4-Year-Old ?

Today we received a letter from the hospital regarding my Jacobs referral for trauma support following the dog attack.

Unfortunately, the referral did not meet the criteria for the major trauma service.

We were advised that his GP could refer him to young person’s psychiatry instead.

Today, we have also been told that this referral has been returned because he does not meet their criteria either.

So where does that leave a 4-year-old child who has been through a terrifying dog attack?

I have done a bit of digging and found that:

Major Trauma criteria generally include:

Severe/life-threatening physical injury
Multiple serious injuries 
Serious head/brain injury
Major injuries such as traumatic amputation or severe blood loss

Young Person/CAMHS criteria generally include:

Severe or complex mental-health difficulties
Significant impact on the child's daily/developmental functioning
Significant risk to themselves or others
A mental-health condition requiring specialist assessment/treatment, such as significant PTSD, severe anxiety, depression or other serious psychiatric difficulties

This is the gap I am trying to highlight with this petition.

 I am asking for there to be an appropriate pathway for children and adults who have experienced a traumatic dog attack,  a pathway that doesn't require them to fit neatly into the criteria of one particular service before they can receive help.

At 4 years old, my son has struggled on and off with fear, nightmares, flashbacks and seeing dogs again. He still talks about what happened. He is 100 percent getting there, and to his numbers he has stroke 21 dogs. 

We needed this help in late April / May. He has his last therapy session on Monday and albeit being a great help, i wonder how many other people / families have been in the same place as where we have.

Yet because he doesn't meet one service's criteria, and then doesn't meet another service's criteria, we are left to work out where does he actually fit.

This cannot be right.

A traumatic event doesn't suddenly become less traumatic because a person falls outside a service's eligibility criteria.

We need this  pathway  , one that provides appropriate trauma assessment, early support and guidance for victims and their families, with specialist services available when needed.

Children should not have to wait until their trauma becomes severe enough to meet a threshold before someone helps them.

And families shouldn't have to fight their way through a maze of services while trying to support a  child.

This is exactly why I started this petition.

We now have over 40,000 people who have signed and supported this call for change.

Please continue to share the petition.

Every signature helps show decision makers that this isn't just about one family.

It's about making sure that the next child, parent or victim of a dog attack doesn't fall through the same gaps.

Please sign and share:

Sign the petition — Create a support system for dog attack victims

Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far. ❤️