Services
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service – CAMHS
Our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) provides a comprehensive range of specialist emotional wellbeing and mental health services for all children and young people aged under 18 who are registered with a GP in Gloucestershire.
About
Everyone feels stressed, anxious, down or angry from time to time, but sometimes these feelings can be overwhelming and just won’t go away. Usually children and young people referred to us will be experiencing emotional wellbeing problems that significantly affect their ability to cope with normal stresses and demands of life.
We also work in partnership with families and professionals supporting young people with mental health needs, and have subcontracted partnership working with tic+ Gloucestershire
CAMHS services include:
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
- Creative Therapy
- Non-Violent Resistance (NVR)
- Care Co-ordination
- Emotional Psychoeducation
- Psychotherapy
- Psychiatry
- Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Joint Parent Work
Make a referral
CAMHS Referral Form
Please note that currently we only accept online referrals from professionals for all services on this site. Referrals are reviewed during office hours only (see above) – complete this form>
However, parents and young people can self-refer to appropriate services through the On Your Mind Gloucestershire support finder>
Crisis referrals
If you believe the life of a child or young person is at immediate risk, dial 999 straight away or go to the nearest Emergency Department (A&E)>
Referrals to GHC Eating Disorder Service
can be made by completing this online referral form: Eating Disorders Referral Form > Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (ghc.nhs.uk)
What happens when a referral is made?
All referrals are screened to make sure they are suitable and to identify urgent referrals. When a referral is accepted, the family or young person will be offered a triage phone call.
Sometimes a one-off meeting is all that is needed. We will ask about the difficulties and give children, young people and their families and carers an opportunity to say what has been happening and what help they would like.
At the end of the discussion we will identify options to take forward. This may mean attending further appointments with us, or a referral to another more suitable service.
Appointments with CAMHS
If further appointments are agreed, we will work with the child or young person to agree goals and set a review point after 6 sessions. A course of treatment will usually be for 7-10 sessions.
Our clinician will complete an assessment and together with the child or young person, will agree a care plan which will show what work has been agreed and how often appointments will be.
What happens if patients are prescribed medication?
Sometimes children and young people may benefit from taking medication as part of their care. This will be discussed with the child or young person, their family and carers, and an explanation given about how it will help. Medication is prescribed and reviewed by our psychiatrists and specially trained nurses.
Confidentiality
All the information shared in our appointments is confidential – usually only the person who made the referral and the GP will know about the appointments. When it is considered helpful to share information with schools or other health staff, we will ask for consent first.
Should young people ask for their information to be withheld from their parents or carers, we will talk this through to understand more about what is happening for them and to assess whether they are competent to make that decision for themselves.
If there are concerns that a child or young person may be at risk of harm, we will always share this information with the relevant agencies. Where appropriate, we will inform the child, young person, their family and carers about this and the reasons for it.
Contact details
Telephone:
0300 421 4899
Monday to Friday: 9am – 5pm
E-mail:
CAMHS.Gloucestershire@ghc.nhs.uk
*Read referral information above
