You may be familiar with the term CAMHS, which stands for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. We are moving away from using 'CAMHS' and these services are now known as Children and Young People's Mental Health Services - or CYPMHS.
Cheshire Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) provide a 45-minute consultation offer for professionals working with young people in Cheshire East, and Cheshire West and Chester. The consultations will predominantly be for school staff but we are also able to provide these for other professionals working with young people, such as those working within social care and third sector organisations.
This is an additional offer for professionals and there will be no change to the existing process for referring young people to Cheshire CYPMHS.
How does it work?
If you have any concerns for a child or young person's mental health, you can request a consultation with one of our mental health practitioners, which will be offered via Microsoft Teams on a one-to-one basis.
Consultations will operate in:
- Cheshire West and Chester - Tuesday afternoons
- Cheshire East - Thursday afternoons
We aim to support children and young people (as well as the adults in their lives) to learn strategies and new ways of taking care of their mental wellbeing.
Two practitioners from CWP along with the person who made the referral will attend the consultation.
As part of our consultation, we will explore any concerns and offer advice, resources and signposting that will meet the needs of the child or young person.
How do I book a consultation?
Requests for consultations can be made using the email address: cwp.
We will get back to you to confirm receipt of your email and to request some additional information about the young person. We will also need to confirm you have consent from a parent / carer of the young person, and where possible, the young person themselves, to make the consultation request.
Once we’ve received the additional information from you, you will receive a link to book a consultation slot.
Please note: we are unable to provide consultations directly for a parent or for a young person. Please visit the main Mental Health Hub page to find out how to access support from children and young people’s mental health services (CYPMHS) in Cheshire.
Sarah* has been quieter than usual at school for the past two weeks. Sarah’s teacher has noticed that she is spending less time with friends during break and lunchtime and often sits alone. Sarah can become tearful in class and can’t explain how she feels. She has started to pick at her fingers when visibly upset and makes negative comments about herself.
School staff have spoken to her parent/carer and suggested they discuss Sarah during a consultation with Children and Young Peoples Mental Health Services (CYPMHS). The school and Sarah’s parent/carer both complete the referral form and questionnaires.
A consultation then takes place between CYPMHS practitioners and school professionals to discuss useful interventions and strategies as well as also local organisations that may be able to help.
The notes from the consultation are entered on the NHS Electronic Patient Record and a letter is also forwarded to the person who made the referral, which outlines the above.
The school shares the information with Sarah’s parents/carer and both the school and parents utilise the strategies recommended. After a few months, Sarah, her parents and the school are asked to complete a questionnaire to assess if things have improved.
* The young person in this scenario is not based on a real person and has been created to illustrate how a typical consultation might work