Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

The role of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) West is to provide a comprehensive specialist mental health service to children and young people aged 5-18 years and who are registered with a Southampton City GP. We are here to help children and young people who are struggling with their emotional and mental health and whose difficulties are having a significant impact on their ability to participate in daily activities or keep themselves safe. We are a multi-disciplinary team, which means we come from a range of different professional backgrounds but all work together to best meet the mental health needs of children, young people and their families.

We include:

• Independent Nurse Prescribers
• Nurse Specialists and Mental Health Practitioners
• Child and Adolescent Consultant Psychiatrists
• Child Psychotherapists
• Clinical Child Psychologists
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapists
• Family Therapists
• Art Psychotherapists
• Social Workers

The main base for CAMHS West is The Horizon Centre which is located within the Western Community Hospital site. Our team can be contacted on our direct dial number 023 81030061 or 0300 123 6661. You can also email us at [email protected] For further information, including our referral criteria and referral form please visit Solent NHS Trust website

We accept referrals from anyone to our service, and particularly encourage self-referrals from young people and families. When we receive a referral for a child or a young person our Single Point of Access (SPA) Team will make contact with the family to discuss the referral, gather more information about your needs and any risks that may be present. We will also at this stage ask about your goals for your own health and what it is you would be looking for from a mental health service. This helps us to work collaboratively with you to agree on the best next steps in meeting your needs.

We understand that when you come for your first appointment it can be quite confusing and feel like a lot to navigate. We try to make you feel as comfortable as possible and encourage you to think of questions beforehand that you would like to ask us. Its important to us that you are able to get the information you need. Our friendly reception staff are on hand to answer any questions you might have when you first arrive and the clinician you see will be able to answer any questions you have about your health. The first appointment you have with us will be for an initial assessment. In this appointment we ask you and your parents or carers for your views and thoughts on your behalf, what you might be concerned about and what you have tried before to help. We then think together about your goals and what you want to achieve with the help of a mental health service. This again helps us to think about how we can help and how we would work together, as well as discuss alternatives if we aren't the best service to meet your needs.

If we all agree that CAMHS are the best service to help meet your needs then we will agree how to go about that and what the next steps are. There are different options for different needs and we'll talk you through so that we make the decision together.

Working in partnership with children, young people and families is very important to us and we want you to feel that you can be open and honest with us about your needs and how you feel we can help you. That way we can get the best available plan in place and be able to talk about what is, and is not, possible for our service to help with, and why.

Our team is available 9-5 Monday to Friday. If your call to us isn't urgent then you are able to leave a message which will be picked up the next working day. If you are calling outside of these hours and needing urgent mental health support then please call 111 or visit NHS 111 online to speak to the Mental Health Triage Service. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for anyone living in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.