CAMHS stands for Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services. It is the name to describe the NHS services that assess and treat young people with emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties.
CAMHS supports young people with difficulties, such as depression, self-harm, violence or anger, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, problems with food and anxiety, among many others.
The CAMHS team is made up of many specialists such as child and adolescent psychiatrists (doctors specialising in mental health), nurses, therapists, psychologists, support workers as well as other professionals.
Covid update for Swansea Bay University Health Board CAMHS Service:
COVID 19 has resulted in changes to the way the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) deliver mental health services across Swansea Bay for children and young people. They are now working with children, young people and their families via a combination of video calls (via the platform Attend Anywhere), telephone calls and face-to-face appointments, to meet individual need.
Whilst they are restricted in how they deliver the service during this time, they have made changes to ensure that children, young people and their families get the advice and support they need. They have established a Single Point of Contact to ensure that all young people, families and professionals across Swansea and Neath Port Talbot can access advice from CAMHS. All contact with the service should be made via this telephone line.
A service for young people aged 14 – 25, who may be experiencing early symptoms of psychosis.
9am – 5pm Monday to Friday
Telephone: 01639 862957 (Heidi McGregor)
Email: SBU.EIPService@wales.nhs.uk
CAMHS stands for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
We are a team made of Doctors (Psychiatrists) Nurses, a range of therapists, Psychologists and support workers.
We use a range of therapies to help young people identify and reduce or manage difficulties.
CAMHS accept referrals for children and young people (up until they are 17 years and 9months) who have a mental health problem which fulfils one or more of the following criteria:
CAMHS is a service made up of several teams including
The first two can be accessed via your GP. If you are then seen by PCAMHS of SCAMHS and they feel you need a more specialised service they will refer you to the relevant team.
ADHD and Autistic Spectrum Disorder assessments are no longer carried out by CAMHS. There is now a specialist Neuro Developmental team in place who provide this service. In order to be consider for an assessment you will need to speak to your school SENCo. If they feel that you fit the presentation for either of ADHD, ASD or both they will refer you to the ND team. Your school and GP will have more information on this process.
You will need to be referred by a professional (e.g. GP, Social worker, School SENCo). Once we have received and accepted the referral you will receive a phone call or a letter in the post notifying you of your appointment date and time.
On the day of the appointment you will meet with one of our Nurses, Therapists or Doctors. You will have the option of being seen alone or with your parent or carer. Some people like to have someone in with them for their first appointment, others like to be seen alone, either is fine, we want you to feel as relaxed as possible.
If you have been to hospital or other clinics before you will probably find our clinic a little different. We like to think that our rooms are friendly and welcoming (like our staff) with comfy chairs.
We call the first appointment Choice and it will last between one and two hours. The purpose of the appointment is to find out as much as possible about you and your life, the difficulties and the good stuff. This will mean that the person you meet will be asking lots of questions, but it’s ok. It’s about you, so you will know all the right answers as you are the expert on you.
You are in control of what you tell us and we will not pressure you if there are things you are uncomfortable talking about. However the more you tell us, the more helpful it will be for you as it means that we will be more able to understand your situation and what support you need. Your CAMHS person will do their best to make it as easy as possible for you. A lot of people are very nervous before but leave feeling much calmer. Remember we are here to help you.
It is also helpful for us to hear from parents or carers, so if you do choose to be seen alone we may ask them to join at the end of the session. It is up to you if you would like to stay in the room for this.
We use the information gathered from that session to decide with you, if you are needing support, and if you are, who the best service to help is and the best way of helping. You will have a say in this, sometimes it will be CAMHS, other times we may suggest an alternative and direct you to a more appropriate service for your needs
After the session your CAMHS worker will write you a letter summarising the Choice appointment and they will include a plan of what happens next, which will usually have been made with you at the end of the session.
We regard Confidentiality as very important and we only share information about our session with you if you give us permission. The only time we have to break this rule if we have concerns regarding yours or another person safety.
YoungMinds provide a beginner’s guide to the NHS’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for young people and parents.
YoungMinds have put together a list of helpful words (along with an explanation of their meaning), to help children and young people understand CAMHS and their rights when receiving care from mental health services.
A booklet from Young Minds with helpful information about CAMHS and how to prepare for your first visit.
Download for free (pdf).