Who can make a referral?

Mostly prrofessionals involved with children and young people, including GPs, teachers, youth workers, educational psychologists, school nurses and social workers can make a referral to CAMHS.

How to make a referral

If you have concerns about a child or young person’s mental health, contact your local CAMHS. It is useful to have certain key information when making a referral, including:

• The full name(s) of the child or young person being referred
• The surname of their parent/carer if different from the child or young person
• Date of birth and address, including postcode
• Telephone numbers; for young people aged over 16 this should include a mobile phone number (if they have one) so that CAMHS can contact them directly (if appropriate)
• Names and ages of family members
• Name of school
• Name of registered GP
• Other agencies known to be involved (e.g. Connexions, education, social services)
• Significant medical problems/medication
• A brief history of presenting problems, with your opinion of the effect these have on the child and their mental health and his/her family members
• An indication of your opinion of the degree of risk to self or others and to what degree the problem is affecting everyday life for the individual and family

Even if a referral is not appropriate, they may be able to point you in the direction of useful support services for the young person/ family.

Referral criteria

It is not possible to give absolute definitions about which children or young people should be referred to CAMHS. CAMHS supports children, young people and families whose social, emotional and behavioural needs are not met by universal services, such as those in the community and primary care.

What happens after the referral has been made?

New referrals are discussed by CAMHS teams at their weekly referrals meetings. Each referral is prioritised according to the information given in the referral.

The family and referrer are then contacted with information, either about an appointment or alternative next steps. A CAMHS worker may contact you for further information, or to think with you about the best way of engaging the family in an assessment.

If a family or young person’s problems worsen whilst you are waiting to hear the outcome from a referral, contact the CAMHS team and provide them with an update. In cases where someone’s safety may be at risk, either as a result of self-harm, potential harm to others or child protection issues, please contact the relevant agency immediately and directly (for example, accident and emergency (A&E), police, social care).

Routine outcome

Once a referral has been accepted at CAMHS, we sometimes ask professionals involved in families lives to fill out Routine Outcome Measures. These questionnaires will help us understand families from the professionals’ perspective.

What do we do?

The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) helps young people and their families when their thoughts and feelings overwhelm them.

At times, many parents and young people feel stressed, anxious, down or angry. Sometimes these feelings can get in the way of coping with everyday life. This struggle to cope can show itself in many ways, such as angry outbursts, feelings of helplessness, struggles to get to work or school, and problems in getting on with one another.

If this happens, one place that you can get some help from is your local CAMHS. The people in CAMHS mostly work in clinics or hospitals.

They work to help young people and their families to find ways to cope with these stressful emotions.

What is mental health?

Mental health includes our emotional, physical, and social well-being.

It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.

Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

During your life, if you experience mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including:

• Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry
• Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse
• Family history of mental health problems

Mental health problems are common, but there is help. People with mental health problems do get better and many recover completely.

CAMHS exists to help children and their families facing mental health problems.