Referral information

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Herefordshire and Worcestershire provides specialist mental health support services to children and young people. In the majority of cases, referral will be made by professional such as a GP or health practitioner for a child or young person to be referred into our services.

All referral information for our services is available below, however we encourage you to visit our services pages first to find out more.

Worcestershire

Worcestershire Single Point of Access (SPA) referral information

Used to refer to Worcestershire CAMHS services listed here: Eating Disorders, CAMHS Plus, Learning Disability Services, Specialist CAMHS (Tier 3).

CAMHS only accept referrals from professionals working with children and young people where there is concern that the child/young person has a mental health problem.

Most of our referrals come from GPs however we find it more helpful when the person who knows the child and the concerns better makes the referral. We prioritise appointments based on the Mental Health need and not who referred to CAMHS.

Send referrals to:

Email:  WHCNHS.CAMHS-SPA@nhs.net
Tel: 01905 768 300
Working hours: Monday to Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm

If you are unsure whether the concerns you have will be suitable for CAMHS you can either call or email us directly on the information above. If we feel that we are not the right source of help for you we may try to make other suggestions of support which could be useful.

Worcestershire Reach4Wellbeing referral information

All referrals to CAMHS Reach4Wellbeing service must be made via this referral form.

 Completed forms should be sent to whcnhs.reach4wellbeing@nhs.net.

We accept referrals where:

  • The child/young person has a Worcestershire GP.
  • The child/young person is between 5 to 18 years old.
  • Whenever possible the child/young person has accessed previous support for the emotional wellbeing/mental health difficulty that the referral is about.

We are currently unable to accept referrals if the child or young person:

  • Is currently engaged in face to face counselling/therapy for their anxiety with another service other than Kooth.
  • Is currently under or is waiting to be seen by a Specialist CAMHS team.
  • Regularly self-harms
  • Has experienced multiple traumatic episodes
  • Is undergoing or awaiting assessment with the Umbrella Service or has an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis.
  • Requires one to one talking therapy support
  • Has a previous history of attempts to overdose or take own life (if this occurred over 12 months ago and you feel this young person is suitable for this service please contact us)
  • Is currently receiving support from the Youth Justice Service.
  • Requires intervention for their behaviour - Groups are available for parents who would like to build on their existing skills and learn new approaches to support and recognise the feelings behind their child’s behaviour: 

Once a referral is received it will be discussed at our earliest possible triage meeting

  • If the referral is accepted a letter to inform the parent/carer/young person of the outcome and an invite to the next available group will be sent.

There are occasions where our service may not be beneficial or be best placed to meet the child or young person’s needs; a referral outcome letter will explain why this is and what alternative options are available.

As per our referral criteria we are unable to accept referrals for children/young People who are currently under or are waiting to be seen by a Specialist CAMHS Team. We currently provide short-term online interactive group programmes for children and young people age 5-18 experiencing mild to moderate anxiety and low mood. If your child has already been accepted for specialist CAMHS their Mental Health need has been deemed as one that is moderate to severe and it is unlikely that a Reach4Wellbeing group would be effective at this time.

Referrals and feedback

Referrals can be made by Social Workers, through Liquid Logic, or by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) practitioners and health professionals through our online portal. To access the portal please use the link below which will also allow you to access online training and information.

Unfortunately we cannot accept referrals from family members/carers.

If you are a young person or carer who looks after a young person, who has had support from Anchor, your feedback is important to us. Please click the link below to complete our feedback form.

Worcestershire CAMHS CAST referral information

A child/young person can be refered into the CAMHS CAST service by a professional if;

  • They are registered with a GP in Worcestershire
  • Have consent from parents/carer

Referrals for CAMHS CAST must be completed on this referral form and sent to: whcnhs.camhscast@nhs.net. Any referrals sent to the CAMHS single point of access email will not be processed.

More information for professionals is available in this leaflet.

Herefordshire

Herefordshire CAMHS Single Point of Access (SPA) referral information

The information below is used to refer to all Herefordshire CAMHS services, apart from the Eating Disorders service.

All referrals into Herefordshire CAMHS must be completed by professionals using the CAMHS referral form. Guidelines for referrers is also available.

The CAMHS team in Herefordshire receive referrals from people who work closely with children and young people such as GPs, school nurses, health visitors, social workers, specialist staff within schools and paediatricians.

Referrals are screened by the team to make sure they are suitable and to identify urgent referrals. When a referral is accepted the family or young person will be invited to make a CHOICE appointment. Other professionals may also be invited to this appointment.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is very important to CAMHS - all the information given in CAMHS appointments is confidential. Usually only the person who made the referral and the GP will know about the appointments.

The team will only share information about young people when we feel it is absolutely necessary, and the clinicians will always explain what information is being shared and why.

Sometimes it can be helpful to share information, for example with schools or other health staff.

The CAMHS clinician will discuss the information to be shared and ask children, young people and their families/carers for consent to share. Sometimes young people do not want to share their information with their parents/carers. This can be identified in the referral. The CAMHS clinician will discuss this with the young person to understand more about their circumstances and assess whether they are competent to make that decision for themselves.

If there are concerns that a child or young person may be at risk of harm, CAMHS will always share this information with the relevant agencies, though we would hope to inform the child or young person and their family/carers about the referral and the reasons for this.

If you are unsure about anything, please ask the team.

CAMHS Herefordshire Eating Disorder referral information

Herefordshire CAMHS Eating Disorder service can be made from this referral form by GP/professionals only.

Please the completed form by emails to whcnhs.herefordceds@nhs.net or:

CAMHS, Benet Building, Ruckhall Lane, HEREFORD, HR2 9RP
Tel: 01432 220450

Both counties

Wellbeing and Emotional Support Teams in Schools referral information

Referrals into our service are made through the mental health lead within the specific education setting.

The child or young person can also self-refer via the school staff, who will then discuss it with the Mental Health Lead.

Parents/carers can also refer to the service via the designated Mental Health Lead within the school.

Youth Justice Service referrals

Referrals are made to the link workers by youth justice officers.   

The service supports those up to the age of 18 years and who are open to the Youth Justice Service.