Children's Mental Health Week: New CAMHS Paediatric Liaison Service is having a positive impact on service users

07 Feb 24

This week is Children’s Mental Health Week and an opportunity to learn about the paediatric liaison team, one of our newer services already having a real impact for young service users and their families.

CAMHS started the Paediatric Liaison Services in both Lister and Watford General Hospitals last year, to support young people whose acute health conditions required them to be in a physical healthcare setting. The service is now seeing service users daily.

The CAMHS Paediatric Liaison team offer psycho-education, mentoring and support to children and their families as well as to acute hospital ward staff and other key professionals, sharing their professional knowledge and skill. They also help to give a voice to the children and young people who need their support.

The scheme has only been running for 9 months but the team is already seeing amazing results. Having taken on the challenge of setting up the new service, they are now showing their true skills in partnership working, clinical care and advocacy of service users’ rights and needs.

CAMHS Community Manager Danielle Evans says she has seen the paediatric liaison team look at options “outside the box” for a number of young people and witnessed the team delivering some of the most considered and compassionate care she has ever seen.

Danielle shared an example which stuck with her in particular – that of a young person who was so neglected he needed enhanced emergency medical care. He was malnourished and infested with lice. He was selectively mute, with a diagnosis of ASD along with physical health concerns. He would not speak, but with daily, calming, gentle support from the team – who got down on the floor to be with him and used a variety of creative means to engage him, he was able to begin to take care of himself and to slowly use his voice to explain his wishes and feelings.

The team have been described as “inspiring” and a “credit to HPFT”.

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Children's Mental Health Week: New CAMHS Paediatric Liaison Service is having a positive impact on service users