‘She didn’t want to die’: Suicidal mother made NINE calls for help on the day she killed herself – and the shocking reason they all went unanswered
- Sydney mum Tammy Peters tried to get help before taking her own life last May
- Rang Sutherland Hospital’s mental health acute care nine times hours before
- Had been in Prince of Wales Hospital days earlier, which said it couldn’t help
- Family believe Tammy would still be alive had her calls for help been answered
- Area health service investigation reviewed processes for ‘system improvement’
A suicidal mother made repeated and desperate pleas to health services for help on the day she killed herself – leaving her family blaming failures in the system for her death.
Tammy Peters, 45, was at breaking point when she called Sutherland Hospital’s mental health acute care team nine times last May, just three weeks after she had first been admitted there following a suicide attempt.
But her calls to the 24-7 hotline number went unanswered and – unable to get the help she desperately needed – she took her life hours later.
Ten months on, Ms Peters’ grieving family are still demanding answers.
Sydney mother Tammy Peters (pictured) tried to get help before she took her own life
Her aunt Kelly Brennan also made attempts to get Ms Peters admitted to hospital after waking up to a frantic message from her niece that she needed help.
Ms Brennan rang Prince of Wales Hospital, where her niece had been discharged three days earlier after she had tried to take her life.
But she was told Ms Peters must instead go to her local hospital Sutherland, which wasn’t answering her niece’s calls.
Ms Brennan believes her niece would still be alive today had she been admitted to either hospital that fateful day.
‘It would be easier to come to terms with Tammy’s death if she had just given up,’ she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘But knowing that she didn’t want to die … knowing she tried so hard to get help and didn’t get it is just devastating.’
Ms Peters had called the 24-7 hotline for Sutherland Hospital’s (pictured) mental health acute care team nine times but was unable to get through
Ms Peters left behind a teenage daughter Bree, 14, who described her mum as the life of the party with an generous and caring heart.
‘My mum’s final [pleas] for help on the day she ended her life were not answered by the hospitals and with that she felt like she had no other option,’ Bree said.
Ms Peters had been in regular contact with mental health services in the months leading up to her death.
But her case was complicated by severe headaches she suffered after she undergoing electroconvulsive therapy at a private clinic.
It left clinicians treating Ms Peters confused as to whether her headaches should be treated as chronic pain or part of her psychiatric condition.
Ms Peters’ heartbroken family are still seeking answers 10 months on (stock image)
According to an internal South East Sydney Local Health District investigation, Ms Peters told Sutherland Hospital she needed to be admitted for her headaches.
While the report stated ‘denied thoughts of self-harm and suicidal ideation’, Ms Brennan believes her niece would have told them she was suicidal and needed help.
Daily Mail Australia contacted both hospitals for comment, along with South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, which expressed its deepest sympathies to Ms Peters’ family.
‘SESLHD is distressed about this incident and senior clinicians have been in contact with the family to discuss their concerns and to offer support,’ a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The tragic death of Ms Peters was the subject of an internal inquiry and the District’s Mental Health Service has reviewed processes to address opportunities that were identified for system improvement.’
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