Welcome to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) – the specialist NHS service offering assessment and treatment to children and young people if they are experiencing emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties.
One in 10 children and young people have a diagnosable mental health condition while similar numbers with less serious mental health problems will need help at some point during their development (Audit Commission 1999).
Over half of all adults with mental health problems were diagnosed in childhood with less than half treated appropriately at the time.
The key strength of our CAMHS teams is in keeping the child, young person and their family at the heart of everything we do. We are able to deliver thorough assessments and a range of therapeutic interventions for children presenting with significant mental health issues. We are dealing with an increasing number of referrals, with more than 2,000 children and young people referred to us in the last year alone.
Our CAMHS service
The child and adolescent mental health service is committed to providing comprehensive and targeted treatments, delivered in the heart of our communities, which positively impact upon the emotional and psychological well-being of children and young people.
Our specialist CAMHS teams provide services for Derby City and South Derbyshire residents and employ a range of highly qualified and specialist clinicians and therapists. We maintain close links with adult mental health services and our colleagues in the early interventions service, as well as youth offending teams and Breakout, Derby City's young people’s substance misuse service.
Our assessments and subsequent care delivery are geared towards ensuring speedy access to the right level of service for the individual and family needs. We also provide a flexible out-of-hours service, including after school and evening services.
How we can help
We are able to offer a wide range of services which include:
- Specialist CAMHS teams - providing mental health and therapy services across Derbyshire (Tier 2/3 services)
- CAMHS RISE - for children and young people who self-harm and are admitted to the Royal Derby Hospital
- Young people’s services - for 16 and 17 year olds within Derby City and the south Derbyshire County area
- South Derbyshire CAMHS learning disabilities service - a southern Derbyshire County service for children and young people with a learning disability and mental health problems.
I am a GP or primary care professional – how do I make a referral?
Referrals are made through a Single Point of Access (SPOA). Please note - we cover Derby city and the south of the county.
To make a referral, please download and submit the Word document referral form.
Learn more about referrals on the SPOA referral page.
I am a GP or primary care professional - how do I contact the team?
Please contact the SPOA (single point of access) administrator on 0300 7900264.
Referral criteria
Mental health problems which should be directly referred to the CAMHS service include:
- anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders
- serious self-harm
- depression and bipolar disorders
- obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD)
- severe anxiety
- post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- suspected early psychosis (which we assess in conjunction with EIPS).
Our commitment is to intervene at the earliest possible opportunity to ensure we are best placed to try and prevent low level episodes becoming acute. Consequently we accept referrals from a wide variety of sources, ranging from doctors to school nurses.
- British Youth Council (BYC) - empowering young people across the UK to have their say and be heard
- Derby youth support - Information and advice for young people living in Derby
- MindEd - information for anybody working with children and young people’s mental health issues.
- Youth and Mental Health: NHS Choices - an information hub offering young people advice and help on mental health problems including depression, anxiety and stress.
- YoungMinds - the UK’s leading charity committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people.
- YOUTHINC - a website created by Derbyshire County Council so you can get information about travel and discounts on your b_line card, find out about education, training and work or get advice about things that are worrying you.
- AIM Target Your Life App Info Page - Self Help web application for young people.
- AIM App - Direct link.
Page list
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SCAs Specialist Community Advisors CAMHS
