Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is the name for care provided by the NHS and other organisations in the United Kingdom for children, generally until school-leaving age, who have difficulties with their emotional well-being or are deemed to have persistent behavioural problems. [1] The service is also known as Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS). [2] CAMHS offer children, young people and their families access to support for mental health issues from third sector (charity) organisations, school-based counselling, primary care as well as specialist mental health services. The exact services provided may vary, reflecting commissioning and providing arrangements agreed at local level. [3]
Worldwide in 2021, one in seven 10-19 year-olds have mental health problems, with approximately 14% of adolescents, experiencing depression, anxiety, and behavioural disorders. [4] In 2020, it was reported that one in six 5-16 year olds in England had a probable mental health difficulty. [5] One in five children and young people aged 8-25 in England had a probable mental disorder in 2023. [6] The restrictions as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted on the mental health of children and young people. [7] [8]
Since 1995, UK CAMHS have largely been organised around the four-tier framework: [9] [10]
Tiers 2 to 4 are often known as specialist CAMHS. Generally, the higher the tier, the more difficult it is for children and young people, or their carers, to self-refer. Referrals to higher tiers can usually be made by a wide range of agencies and professionals, including GPs and school nurses. [1] [11]
The Health Advisory Service originally deemed that a specialist CAMHS team should include, at the minimum, a child psychiatrist, a child psychologist and a nurse with knowledge and skills in child and adolescent mental health. More developed teams, however, include members from other disciplines such as occupational therapy, psychotherapy, social work and nursery nursing. Most current services are psychiatrist-led, although other models exist and there is limited evidence of what system works best. It is suggested that there should be a consultant psychiatrist for a total population of 75,000, although in most of the UK this standard is not met.[ citation needed ]
The Tier 4 service includes hospital care or intensive home-based crisis care, with about 1,450 hospital beds provided in England for adolescents aged 13 to 18. [12] Typical conditions that sometime require hospital care include severe emotional disorders (depression and anxiety disorders), psychoses, eating disorders and self-harm that is life threatening. [13] [14] Although hospitals fulfill an important role in overall systems of care, children and young people who are admitted can be at risk of losing touch with family, friends and education. [15]
The service may, depending on locality, include:
In response to the criticisms of the four-tier framework, there have been attempts to transform services using initiatives such as the Choice and Partnership Approach (CAPA), [17] CYP-IAPT (an analogue of the adult Improving Access to Psychological Therapies initiative for children and young people) [18] and ‘THRIVE’. [19]
CAPA, developed in the early 2000s, was an initiative designed to improve service effectiveness and the management of service demand and capacity. [20] [21]
CYP-IAPT was a government-supported initiative of the 2010s. [22] Like its adult IAPT counterpart, CYP-IAPT aimed to improve the availability of, and access to, evidence-based psychological therapies. Unlike its adult counterpart, CYP-IAPT did not involve the recruitment and development of new types of workers; instead, it championed the training of existing staff in evidence-based therapies such as cognitive-behavioural therapy, parenting and interpersonal therapy. [23]
THRIVE is a framework for creating coherent and resource-efficient ‘communities’ of mental health that focuses on clarity around need rather than structures or interventions to meet such needs. THRIVE has been mooted as an alternative to the tiers model with the four tiers being replaced by five (increasingly complex) levels of need: thriving, getting advice, getting help, getting risk support, and getting more help. [24]
As of December 2016, some young English people with eating disorders were being sent hundreds of miles away to Scotland because the services they required were not available locally. Not withstanding good care in Scotland it was said that being away from friends and family compromised their recovery. In response the government had adopted a policy of ending such arrangements by 2021, and had allocated a cumulative £150M to improve local availability of care. [25] There are concerns that not enough is being done to support people at risk of taking their own lives. [26] 1,039 children and adolescents in England were admitted to beds away from home in 2017–18, many had to travel over 100 miles (160 kilometres) from home. Many had complex mental health issues frequently involving a risk of self-harm or suicide, like severe depression, eating disorders, psychosis and personality disorders. [27]
In 2017-18 at least 539 children assessed as needing Tier 3 child and adolescent mental health services care waited more than a year to start treatment, according to a Health Service Journal survey which elicited reports from 33 out of the 50 mental health trusts. [28] In November 2023, there were 239,715 children and young people who had been referred and were waiting for a CAMHS assessment In England. [29]
According to a collaboratively produced service design model, high-quality CAMHS require: [30]
Between 2016 and 2020 in Wales, almost 52,000 individual mental health crisis events involving ambulance attendance, A&E visits or emergency admission were recorded amongst 11-24 year olds. [31]
The number of children and young people experiencing mental health crises is increasing but as a result of stretched services and increasing demand there are often lengthy waiting periods before being seen which in turn leads to rising numbers seeking help. [32] [33] Crisis care for children and young people has become a policy priority both in the UK and internationally. [34]
Understanding the different kinds of crisis services and how young people and their families experience help in those situations is crucial for making care better. Many young people and their families have no knowledge about available mental health services or how to access them during times of crisis. As a result emergency departments are commonly used during moments of crisis. [35] For mental health crisis care to be effective people need to know where to access services. Triage or assessment-only services, such as in emergency departments, schools, via phone, text or online, are also effective. [35]
In Europe and the United States child-centred mental health did not become a medical specialty until after World War I. [36] In the United Kingdom children's and young people's mental health treatment was for decades the remit of the Child Guidance Movement increasingly working after World War II with local educational authorities and often influenced by psychoanalytic ideas. Provision in NHS hospitals was piecemeal across the country and disconnected from the youth justice system. However opposition to psychoanalysis with its pioneering research work into childhood and adolescence, [37] [38] [39] which was poorly understood by proponents of the medical model, caused the service to be abandoned in favour of evidence-based medicine and evidence-based education. [40] This led to the eclipse of the multidisciplinary child guidance approach in the 1990s and a public policy-motivated formal take-over by the NHS. [41]
The development of CAMHS within a four-tiered framework started in 1995. In 1998, 24 CAMHS Innovation Projects started, and the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 established related youth offending teams. In 2000 the NHS Plan Implementation Programme required health and local authorities to jointly produce a local CAMHS strategy. [42]
Despite the introduction of the four-tier framework in 1995, reports and reviews have consistently described UK children’s mental health services as fragmented, uncoordinated, variable, inaccessible and lacking an evidence-base. These include:
From about 2013 onward major concerns have been expressed about reductions in CAMHS, and apparently increasing demand, and in 2014 the parliamentary Health Select Committee investigated and reported on provision. [47] [48] In 2015 the government published a review, [49] and promised a funding increase of about £250 million per year. However the funds were not ring-fenced and as of 2016 only about half of England's clinical commissioning groups had increased local CAMHS funding. [50] [51] CAMHS funding remains a popular topic for political announcements of funding and the current aim is to increase funding to the level that 35% of young people with a disorder are able to receive a specialist service. Different models of service organisation are also advocated as part of this transformation. [52]
In Scotland, between 2007 and 2016 the number of CAMHS psychologists had doubled, reflecting increased demand for the service. [53] However in September 2020, 53.5% of CAMHS patients in Scotland had waited for an appointment longer than the 18 weeks target, and in Glasgow the average waiting time was 26 weeks. [54]
Current policy in England is based on the Green Paper (2017) and the NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan (2019). It focuses on mental health promotion, mental ill-health prevention and early intervention, workforce expansion, community-based mental support teams (including school-based mental health workers), and 24/7 crisis services. Services are expected to cover the 0-25s (rather than 0-17s). [55] The 2019 implementation plan has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic which has led to increased demand for CAMHS [56] and an impact on the availability of appropriately trained staff. [57]
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, primarily depression, PTSD and anxiety disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on challenging and changing cognitive distortions and their associated behaviors to improve emotional regulation and develop personal coping strategies that target solving current problems. Though it was originally designed to treat depression, its uses have been expanded to include many issues and the treatment of many mental health and other conditions, including anxiety, substance use disorders, marital problems, ADHD, and eating disorders. CBT includes a number of cognitive or behavioral psychotherapies that treat defined psychopathologies using evidence-based techniques and strategies.
The Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People (SOC) is an international clinical protocol by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) outlining the recommended assessment and treatment for transgender and gender-diverse individuals across the lifespan including social, hormonal, or surgical transition. It often influences clinicians' decisions regarding patients' treatment. While other standards, protocols, and guidelines exist – especially outside the United States – the WPATH SOC is the most widespread protocol used by professionals working with transgender or gender-variant people.
A mental health trust provides health and social care services for people with mental health disorders in England.
Birmingham Children's Hospital is a specialist children's hospital located in Birmingham, England. The hospital provides a range of specialist services and operates the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for the city. The service operates as part of Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust.
Gender dysphoria in children (GD), also known as gender incongruence of childhood, is a formal diagnosis for distress caused by incongruence between assigned sex and gender identity in some pre-pubescent transgender and gender diverse children.
Child psychotherapy, or mental health interventions for children refers to the psychological treatment of various mental disorders diagnosed in children and adolescents. The therapeutic techniques developed for younger age ranges specialize in prioritizing the relationship between the child and the therapist. The goal of maintaining positive therapist-client relationships is typically achieved using therapeutic conversations and can take place with the client alone, or through engagement with family members.
West London NHS Trust is an NHS trust which provides mental and physical health services to the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham and Hounslow. It also provides some services on a national basis, including forensic and high-security services.
Child and adolescent psychiatry is a branch of psychiatry that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders in children, adolescents, and their families. It investigates the biopsychosocial factors that influence the development and course of psychiatric disorders and treatment responses to various interventions. Child and adolescent psychiatrists primarily use psychotherapy and/or medication to treat mental disorders in the pediatric population.
The Huntercombe Group is a specialist health provider in the United Kingdom specialising in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Adult Mental Health, Brain Injury Rehabilitation and Neurological Care Centre, Adult Learning Disability and Children's Complex Needs. It operates 12 hospitals and specialist centres located throughout England and Scotland.
Kenneth J. Zucker is an American-Canadian psychologist and sexologist known for the living in your own skin model, a form of conversion therapy aimed at preventing pre-pubertal chidren from growing up transgender by modifying their gender identity and expression.
Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), also known as NHS Talking Therapies, for anxiety and depression, is a National Health Service initiative to provide more psychotherapy to the general population in England. It was developed and introduced by the Labour Party as a result of economic evaluations by Professor Lord Richard Layard, based on new therapy guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as promoted by clinical psychologist David M. Clark.
The Association of Mental Health Providers (AMHP), known until May 2017 as Mental Health Providers Forum (MHPF), is a registered charity based in London and the representative body for voluntary and community sector mental health organisations in England and Wales, working nationally and regionally to influence practice and policy. It aims to improve the range and quality of mental health services by increasing the involvement of the voluntary sector in delivering them, working in partnership with the wider sector and government agencies. Specific projects include the promotion of innovation in the sector, evidencing best practice to achieve the best outcomes for individuals and supporting recovery.
The National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) is a collaboration between the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness at University College London (UCL). The NCCMH aims to promote the role of evidence synthesis in making informed judgments about healthcare policy. The NCCMH has a history of developing guidelines, conducting systematic reviews and developing implementation guidance for commissioners and service providers. Formed in 2001, on 1 April 2016 a new guideline development centre, the National Guideline Alliance, based at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists took over the clinical guideline programme that had been run by NCCMH.
Emily Simonoff is Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Neuropsychiatry Service, head of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry department at the Institute of Psychiatry and lead for the CAMHS Clinical Academic Group at King's Health Partners, King's College London.
Transgender health care includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions for transgender individuals. A major component of transgender health care is gender-affirming care, the medical aspect of gender transition. Questions implicated in transgender health care include gender variance, sex reassignment therapy, health risks, and access to healthcare for trans people in different countries around the world. Gender affirming health care can include psychological, medical, physical, and social behavioral care. The purpose of gender affirming care is to help a transgender individual conform to their desired gender identity.
Jonathan Green is a British professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Manchester. He is a specialist in autism spectrum disorders. He co-led the first study in the United Kingdom into ICD Asperger syndrome and has written research studies about social and language development in Autism Spectrum Disorder, co-morbidity and treatment intervention.
Mental health in the United Kingdom involves state, private and community sector intervention in mental health issues. One of the first countries to build asylums, the United Kingdom was also one of the first countries to turn away from them as the primary mode of treatment for the mentally ill. The 1960s onwards saw a shift towards Care in the Community, which is a form of deinstitutionalisation. The majority of mental health care is now provided by the National Health Service (NHS), assisted by the private and the voluntary sectors.
Child Guidance was both an evolving 20th-century social construct, sometimes called the Child Guidance Movement, and an influential network of multidisciplinary clinics set up to address the problems of childhood and adolescence. It began in the United States and after World War I spread rapidly to Europe, especially to Austria and England, though not to Scotland. It was the first child-centred institutional response to meet perceived child and youth behavioural and mental disorders. It therefore predated the advent of child psychiatry as a medical specialism and of distinct child psychiatric departments as part of modern hospital settings.
The Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) was a nationally operated health clinic in the United Kingdom that specialised in working with children with gender identity issues, including gender dysphoria. The service closed on 28 March 2024 after serious concerns were repeatedly raised over a number of years by several independent NHS whistleblowers.
Isobel Heyman is a British psychiatrist and consultant at the Great Ormond Street Hospital. She was named as the Royal College of Psychiatrists Psychiatrist of the Year in 2015.
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