Aquarius ward
Who we are
Aquarius Ward is a 12 bed mixed gendered inpatient service for young people aged 12-18 experiencing a mental health crisis, requiring short term crisis intervention in hospital
Who is the service for
This service is for young people aged 12-18 who have a serious mental illness or are experiencing an acute mental health crisis which requires short term crisis intervention in hospital
Conditions we treat
We cover the following conditions:
Anxiety disorders in childrenBipolar disorder
Depression
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Where to find us
Entrance 8
Springfield University Hospital
Elizabeth Newton Way
London
SW17 0YG
Telephone: 020 3513 5000
Email: aquariusstaff@swlstg.nhs.uk
Our opening hours
24 hours
Who you might see / our staff
Depending on your needs you will see a variety of people including social workers, mental health practitioners, child and adolescent psychotherapists or a psychologist. Some of our key staff include:
- Ward Manager: Niruban Vallinathan
- Consultants: Dr Diana Cassell and Dr Maria Martinez Herves
- Modern Matron: Robson Tanhara
What you can expect
If you use our services you will receive an assessment of your mental health needs and a care plan detailing the suport you will recieve.
Aquarius ward is typically a friendly, peaceful environment. However things can get noisier at times. The staff are easy to get along with and will do all they can to help you.
During the day there are activities, groups and school.
Young people will be allocated a named nurse and named doctor who will be the main points of contact for young people and their parents/carers.
Referrals
Referrals are accepted from Tier 3 and Tier 4 CAMHS services.
All referrals must go through our bed management team.
Telephone: 020 3513 5421
Email: AquariusAdmin@swlstg.nhs.uk
Other useful information
SL Partnership:
We are now in joint partnership with SLAM and oxleas. This covers the whole of South London area. This will help ensure that young people will not be sent out of the south London area if needing admission.
“We believe that by working as a partnership we bring together a critical mass of expertise and resources that can help to deliver better local population health. We will be able to not only increase the capacity of the services available but also improve the quality. The new model of care is likely to include initiatives that will really benefit patients such as increased provision of psychiatric intensive care and a support line that is linked to local crisis teams across our boroughs.
We are all too familiar with cases where patients who need inpatient support end up in facilities many miles away, due to the national shortage of CAMHS beds. We want this to stop and see this as a real opportunity to make sure that local children and young people receive mental health care near to their homes, without their family members having to travel far and wide to see them. Supporting young people near to home means facilitating links with their friends, family and schools which in turn will provide support and help them to maintain a life outside of hospital. This will also create new opportunities and engagement with local CCGs and Local Authority children’s social care across south London.
We know that inpatient facilities are not always the best way to support patients and we want to create an alternative model of care to reduce the needs for beds and provide care in the community. Our clinicians and managers will work with patients and their families to create this new model.
At the moment, we think that this will involve using our new commissioning funding to invest in services that will allow CAMHS patients to be supported in the community - and we expect to see a corresponding reduction in admissions to inpatient facilities and the length of time that many will spend in these facilities.”
Conditions we treat
Mental Health Crisis Line
Patient advice and liaison service
Finding a service
Contact us
Mental Health Support Line
Childline
Samaritans