South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Southwark Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service Information for young people (12-18 years)
What is Southwark CAMHS? Southwark Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) is an outpatient service available to young people, their families and carers. Our team is also known as Tier 3 CAMHS and will both assess and treat your problem. We can also put you in touch with other services if we think that would be best for you, or when you turn 18 years old. Who works in the team? We are a team of healthcare professionals made up of psychiatrists, psychologists, family therapists, nurses, occupational therapists, social workers and drug and alcohol workers. We are trained to work with young people and their families who are having problems with their mental health. Our staff come from different cultural and professional backgrounds. We aim to meet the needs of the community and can use interpreters to ensure that everyone in Southwark can use our service.
What problems can CAMHS help with? Some young people talk about having the following types of difficulties; anxiety depression self-harm suicidal thinking unusual thoughts / recent changes in mood and behaviour eating disorder substance misuse Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) You might have other problems. We would talk to you about them and think about the best type of support for you. What we offer? We are able to offer a range of treatments; mental health assessment and diagnosis family therapy groups individual psychotherapy joint work with statutory and voluntary agencies Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) management of medication consultation and advice to families and other agencies
How can I get help? Anyone can refer you to CAMHS including GPs, A&E, Youth Offending Service (YOS), Social Services and other agencies. You need to be registered with a GP in Southwark. There is a duty clinician available 9am - 5pm (Monday to Friday) who you or your family can talk to about getting help from us. If we are not the right service for you, the duty clinician will offer advice about other support services. What happens after the referral has been made? We always aim to respond quickly. You will be invited for an assessment with your family or carer (or you can come alone). This normally takes 1-1 1/2hrs. During the assessment you will be offered time on your own with the clinicians. After the assessment we will develop a care plan with you. If you need more intensive help or need admitting to hospital, we will get in touch with the appropriate services. If we think there is a risk to you or other people we may need to involve social services. We will always tell you what we plan to do. This may involve further assessment, treatment or referral to another service. If you begin treatment in our team you will be given a care coordinator and an individual therapist.
Confidentiality Your appointments are private and confidential. We will tell your GP and whoever referred you about your progress and this will be done in consultation with you. If we think it would be helpful to get in contact with other people (school, other health professionals) we will only do this after asking you. If we are worried about your safety or the safety of other people, we might need to tell other professionals. If we can, we will always try to tell you about this. Health records All clinical records are stored on a database, protected by a password that can only be used by staff from South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. If you wish, you can ask to see your health records (access to Health Records Act 1990). Where to find us Bloomfield Centre, Guys Hospital, Great Maze Pond, SE1 9RT
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Options available If you d like a large print, audio, Braille or a translated version of this leaflet then please ask us. Useful contact details SLaM Switchboard: 020 3228 6000 SLaM 24hr Information Line - Advice on how to access SLaM Services: 0800 731 2864 Contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) for help, advice and information: T: 0800 731 2864 W: www.pals.slam.nhs.uk E: pals@slam.nhs.uk Complaints If you are not happy about something but not sure if you want to make a formal complaint you can speak to a member of staff directly. Alternatively you can contact the PALS Office on freephone 0800 731 2864. If you decide you want to make a formal complaint this can be done by contacting the Complaints Department: Complaints Department, Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ T: (020) 3228 2444/2499 E: complaints@slam.nhs.uk W: www.slam.nhs.uk www.tfl.gov.uk/journeyplanner For the quickest way to plan your journey anywhere in greater London use journey planner: 020 7222 1234 (24hrs) Date of Publication: 13/09/2010 Reference: 130910