Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

Our service is for young people up to the age of 18 who have emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties which are causing difficulties in their school, family or social life.

CAMHS is a specialist service, which means that referrals need to be made by someone who has met you and thinks that CAMHS might be able to help. That person might be your GP, health visitor, school health advisor, social worker or a paediatrician (a specialist children's doctor).

Once we receive your referral, we get in touch with you as soon as possible to let you know whether we think we can help and to offer you an appointment with our team.

If you think you would benefit from support from CAMHS, make an appointment to see your GP, who will be able to make a referral to our service for you if they think we could help. 

Depending on your age, you would usually bring your parents or carers with you when you first come to see us, but sometimes we might need to see you alone. Sometimes we might need to see your parents alone too so don't be worried if this happens. It's important that everyone feels comfortable and able to talk openly about any worries they have. 

All appointments are held in private rooms. Your first appointment usually takes about 45 to 60 minutes. If you're offered more appointments, they shouldn't be longer than your first appointment and we will do our best to agree a date and time that works for you.

When you've had your first appointment, we may need more information to help us decide what we can do to support you. This may mean speaking to teachers at school or other people who are known to you. We would always discuss this with you first. 

When we have all the information we need, we will talk to you about it and decide together whether we can help. If we decide CAMHS is the best service to help you, we will work together on a plan, which you will own and be given a copy of.

We also provide child and adolescent mental health services across Halton, St Helens and Warrington.

Our Knowsley CAMHS Community Team is based at the Young People and Families' Wellbeing Hub, which is on the first floor of the Knowsley Resource and Recovery Centre.

As with the rest of our buildings, the Young People and Families' Wellbeing Hub, is smokefree. This means that smoking is not permitted anywhere inside the building or in the site grounds. 

For: common low-level wellbeing or socially based worries

What’s advised: One to three contacts, ending by mutual agreement. This level of support is sufficient to normalise behaviour

Try: providing reassurance, information and advice or signpost on to universal Services:

Providers of getting Advice:

• School nurse
• Youth worker
• Family support worker advice line
• Self help guides and apps
• Early Help Hub
• NHS UK
• Kooth
• Young Minds
• Advice Lines
• 24 hour mental health line and urgent help

For: low level anxiety, Low mood (including hopelessness), low level, OCD, infrequent or low level of self-harming, emotional regulation difficulties, consistent and behavioural problems both at home and school.

What’s advised: Goal focused, evidence based interventions with clear aims and goals.

If referrer suspects neurodevelopmental difficulties, the appropriate service would be to Clinical Partners 0203 905 9390 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm

Try referrals on to:

• Schools (counsellors)
• SENCO / pastoral / learning support
• wellbeing practitioners
• Youth Services
• Youth Justice Services
• Parenting Courses
• Health Visitors
• Paediatricians
• Talking Therapies Knowsley (age 16+)
• Young Carers
• Young Peoples Substance Use Services (CGL)

Providers for getting Help:

• Social Care
• Early Help
• Family First
• Qualified School Counsellors
• SENCO and Pastoral Services
• Youth Services
• Youth Justice Workers
• Health Visitors
• Paediatricians
• Addvanced Solutions
• Speech and Languages Services
• Kooth
• Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs)
• Children and Young People's Mental Health Services (CYPMHS)

For: Children and Young People, who need a specialist Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) assessment or would benefit from extensive long term treatment, which may include urgent, inpatient or extensive outpatient care.

Also for:

• Children and Young People who might need a community based specialist CAMHS assessment for complex social communication difficulties
• Co-morbid ADHD
• Trauma
• PTSD
• Complex emotional dysregulation difficulties
• Clinical depression
• Major mental health disorders, Eating disorders
• and or an urgent CAMHS mental state assessment.

Try referrals on to:

• Children and Young People's Mental Health Services (CYPMHS)
• Social Care
• Local Crisis and Urgent Services
• Possible tier 4 services in conjunction with hospital Avoidance
• Young Offender Services (YOS)

Providers of Getting risk support:

• CYPMHS
• Social care
• Local crisis and urgent services
• Hospital avoidance
• Young Offender Services (YOS)
• Forensic CAMHS

Getting Risk Support

For: Children and Young People unable to benefit from evidence based treatment, but remain a significant concern or risk, including those who routinely go into crisis or don’t make use of help

Try:

• Calling for and attending Social Care Strategy Meetings
• Child Protection Conferences
• Edge of Care Meeting
• School / College Safeguarding
• Strategy meetings
• Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) Risk Assessment Management Meetings (RAMM)
• Sexual Harm Panel
• MAPPA meetings
• Inpatient admissions and discharge meetings
• HQ97
• Complex Mental Health Panels

Providers of Getting Risk Support:

• CYPMHS
• Social care
• Police
• Ambulance and fire services, Accident and Emergency
• Schools/colleges
• Third / Voluntary Sector
• Crisis support services
• CYPMHS Response Team
• GP
• Community Nurses
• Safeguarding Practitioners
• NHS 111
• Crisis Help Line Providers
• Youth Workers

All Services involved with a child or young person need to be part of their getting risk support plan – it is a multiagency / multidisciplinary approach.

We are all responsible for the safety of the children and young people we see, therefore all services and professionals involved need to be involved in the development of the cross agency risk support plan, in conjunction with the child/young person and their family/carers/support network, HQ97.