Child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) referrals

The Ealing Child and Adolescent Mental Health service (CAMHS) is a specialist NHS service which offers multidisciplinary assessment and treatment when children and young people have emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties which are impacting on their ability to manage with family life, school or the wider world.

The types of problems CAMHS can help with include anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, eating difficulties, obsessions or compulsions, self-harming, suicidal thoughts and the effects of abuse or traumatic events. CAMHS can also diagnose and offer therapeutic input for young people presenting with neurodevelopmental disorders as well as serious mental health problems such as bipolar disorder and psychosis.

Ealing CAMHS offers a comprehensive range of specialist community mental health assessments and interventions that are compliant with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance and other evidence based assessment and treatments. The service comprises of multi-disciplinary teams of child and adolescent psychiatrists, psychotherapists, family therapists, clinical psychologists, nurses, social workers and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) based in Ealing.

The service is available to children and young people aged 0 to their 18 birthday and their families/carers who are registered with GP's within the London Borough of Ealing.

Benefits

Ealing Specialist (Tier 3) CAMHS provide assessments and interventions for moderate to severe mental health concerns via these teams:

• Child and Family Team (0 to 14)
• Adolescent Team (14 to 18)
• Neurodevelopmental Team (6 to 18)
• Learning Disability CAMHS (6 to 18)

In addition, Ealing Early Intervention (Tier 2) CAMHS provide assessments and interventions for mild to moderate mental health concerns via these teams:

• Mental Health Support Team (MHST)
• Brighter Futures Clinical Psychology Service
• Intensive therapeutic and short breaks service Ealing (ITSBS)

Finally, West London CAMHS provide assessments and interventions for moderate to severe mental health concerns via these teams:

• Eating Disorder Service (0 to 18)
• Alliance (Crisis) Service (0 to 18)
• Speak CAMHS Helpline (0 to 18)

Office hours:

The CAMHS service is available from Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm.

An Out of Hours service is also available, and provides support and advice for children and young people who are in a crisis and present to the local A&E in an emergency (after 4pm and on weekends). This may be contacted via 0800 328 4444 and choose Option 2 for CAMHS.

Guide to Early Intervention CAMHS and referral process

Our Tier 2 services are multi-agency and so receive referrals directly from the community agencies and teams they are working with (e.g. schools, social care, etc.). Learn how to get advice and/or make a referral:

• Brighter Futures
• Ealing intensive therapeutic and short breaks service

Brighter Futures

Within Brighter Futures, clinical psychologists are embedded within Ealing children’s social care teams alongside social work colleagues. The service offers a primarily consultation, training and indirect offer to social care workers, and some limited direct work to children, families, parents and carers who are open to the social care teams below:

• Multi-agency support teams (MAST) are responsible for assessments and for all children on child-in-need and child protection plans. There are four teams based in Acton, Central, Greenford and MAST adolescent (for more high-risk/edge of care teenagers). There is one clinical psychologist based in each of the 4 broad teams.
• Connect - there are now 6 Connect teams to cover looked-after-children’s services, including fostering support and care planning and court services. There are four clinical psychologists supporting the Connect Teams.
• Leaving care service and unaccompanied young people. This service offers support to care leavers from 16 to 25 years old and unaccompanied young people. There are two clinical psychologists supporting these teams.
• Ad opt London West - a regional adoption agency hosted by London Borough of Ealing. There is one clinical psychologist supporting this team.

If you would like to make a referral, please note that only children and families open to the above teams are eligible to receive a service from Brighter Futures and referrals come directly through the social work teams. If you would like to discuss a child or young person you believe is open to one of the social care teams please email BFClinicalPsychology@ealing.gov.uk

Ealing intensive therapeutic and short breaks service (ITSBS)

This service aims to prevent unnecessary residential care and enables children and young people with LD to remain in their family/local community. It provides intensive clinical psychology and social care input to the young person, family and frontline workers, including additional/intensive short breaks as needed.

ITSBS aims to enable young people with a learning disability and challenging behaviours who are at risk of a move to a residential placement to remain within their family and community settings instead. It is a collaborative initiative between clinical psychology, social care and short breaks Services for children with disabilities.

The ITSBS is a specialist service providing intensive support to a small number of young people who are at risk of a move to residential placement.

Here are some of criteria we consider in selecting which families can benefit from this service:

• The young person must be aged 5-17 years old and have a diagnosis of learning disability or autism.
• The home/family situation must be at risk of breaking down in the near future.
• The young person must be presenting severe challenging behaviour, e.g. physical aggression.
• The family must consent to the referral and indicate some motivation to engage with the ITSBS.
• The young person must have an allocated social worker in the Children with Disabilities Team.
• The young person must not currently be subject to a child protection plan or have safeguarding investigations pending.
• The young person must not present with acute mental health difficulties requiring intensive psychiatric input i.e. inpatient care.

Guide to specialist CAMHS and referral process

The majority of our Specialist (Tier 3) teams are based at Ealing CAMHS, 1 Armstrong Way, Southall, Middlesex, UB2 4SA. The Learning Disability Team is based at Carmelita House, 21–22 The Mall, W5 2PJ

Referrals should be made online using the CAMHS referral form. It’s essential that the form is completed with as much detail as possible and that the person with Parental Responsibility (PR) consents to the referral, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

A duty worker is available from Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm to discuss potential referrals on 020 8354 8160.

Consultation can be provided rather than direct assessment or intervention for cases where a mental health perspective will complement work already in progress, or where there’s is professional anxiety or uncertainty as to whether referral to specialist CAMHS is appropriate.

All referrals will be screened for appropriateness and urgency, at which point factors such as severity, duration, complexity, likelihood of response to available treatments, and likelihood of engagement may be considered. Further information may be sought from a referrer or family, if necessary. For more information on each of these services including how to make a referral, please download below the guide to CAMHS Specialist (Tier 3) teams and referral processes:

• Child and family team
• Adolescent team
• Neurodevelopmental team
• Learning disability team
• Tri-borough eating disorders team

Please consult the Threshold Guide before contacting the teams via their duty system on 020 8354 8160, Monday to Friday 9-5pm.

Child and Family Team

The child and family team (CFT) provides assessment and intervention for children and families aged 0-13 years inclusive with complex and/or severe mental ill health (who do not have a Learning Disability or attend special LD / ASD schools). The team provides assessment and treatment for a wide range of mental disorders, including moderate to severe presentations of depression, anxiety disorders, OCD, PTSD, attachment disorders, mixed emotional and behavioural disorder and developmental trauma, where it is anticipated longer term intervention is required.

Adolescent Team

The Adolescent Team (AT) provides assessment and intervention for adolescents and families aged 14-18 whose mental health is considered severe and complex (who do not have a Learning Disability or attend special LD /ASD schools). The team provides assessment and treatment for a wide range of mental disorders, including moderate to severe presentations of depression, anxiety disorders, OCD, PTSD, attachment disorders, mixed emotional and behavioural disorder and developmental trauma, where it is anticipated longer term intervention is required.

Neurodevelopmental Team

The Neurodevelopmental team (NDT) provides the following for children and young people aged 6 to 18 (who do not have learning disability or attend special LD / ASD schools) ssessment for suspected neurodevelopmental conditions such as

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Tourette’s Syndrome (TS), following first-line interventions being attempted at home and in school.

Post-diagnostic support

Specialist and adapted therapeutic intervention where there confirmed Neurodevelopmental Diagnoses alongside co-existing mental health difficulties who require Specialist CAMHS input.

Young people who present with Learning Disability or attend specialist LD / ASD schools are offered ASD assessment by the Child Development Team and mental health care by the Ealing CAMHS Learning Disability team.

Please note: if a child is referred for an ASD assessment to CDT (SoCA pathway) as they are under 6 years of age, they will remain on the CDT SoCA pathway waiting list until seen.

Learning Disability (LD) team

The CAMHS LD team welcomes referrals for children and young people (CYP) who:

• Have an Ealing GP
• Are aged 0 -18 years
• Have a diagnosis of learning disability and evidence of this diagnosis. The definition of LD is taken from DSM-V as IQ 69 and below, along with significant impairment in adaptive living skills, and difficulties present since childhood
• Have mental health difficulties or significant behaviours that challenge and cannot be supported by more universal services

Additionally, we accept referrals for CYP who attend Ealing Local Authority Special schools, which are Mandeville, John Chilton, Castlebar, Spring Hallow, Belvue and St Ann’s.

Tri-borough Eating Disorders Team

This service sees young people aged 0 -18 years and offers assessment and treatment (clinic and home if needed) for eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder) and treatment for confirmed eating disorders. Please ensure you have an accurate and recent weight and height and include that in the referral.

Please note: The Eating Disorder Service is the ONLY service that accepts self-referrals via a telephone call.

All young people that are referred also need to see their GP for a physical health check so the service can ascertain how urgent the referral is and check there is not another cause for the weight loss.

Referrals into West London NHS Trust

All new referrals are screened by Duty Clinicians every working day to assess risk and determine suitability for offering an assessment appointment. If CAMHS is needed, families are then placed on the waiting list for assessment with the most relevant team. Cases which need to be seen sooner are offered priority appointments. If CAMHS is not the appropriate, referrals are redirected to the most appropriate service or referrers and families are informed of the correct service to access.

If you wish to make a referral please use the West London NHS Trust CAMHS online referral form(link is external).