Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Southampton

How has the Coronavirus outbreak affected my appointment? 

The majority of appointments for initial assessments are being offered as face to face appointments.  We are keen to develop strong relationships with young people and their families who require our service and recognise that there is a small risk this is compromised by our first meeting being through a digital platform.  Whilst still needing to accommodate the need for large rooms to maintain social distancing and self-isolation as it arises it is not yet possible to offer every assessment as a face to face one.  Where it is not possible we will get in touch with you to arrange an alternative way of carrying out the appointment.

All first appointments with a Psychiatrist in our team will be face to face.  New appointments with Psychiatrists in our team can be for a number of reasons but the most common reasons are for consideration of the use of medication or more detailed assessment of a young person’s mental health.  Both of which reasons are able to be more easily facilitated in a face to face appointment.

Unless there are specific risks follow up appointments and reviews will be via our digital platform Visionable or telephone.  This is to enable the service to make best use of the larger clinical rooms we have available so that appointments which are needing to be conducted via face to face can be done in accordance with the right social distancing measures and also to ensure that we are doing our part within the wider NHS efforts to ensure that face to face contact is minimised.

Can I still contact the service? 

Yes, please do – we are keen to hear from you.  You can contact us on our direct dial number, 023 8103 0061, or our team email address, SNHS.CAMHSWEST@nhs.net

In addition we continue to work closely with Re:Minds (www.reminds.org.uk) and are available to parents/carers via that support group for pop up sessions related to mental health alongside general question and answer sessions.  Please sign up to Re:Minds on their Facebook page to get details of the zoom meetings.

I am on your waiting list. How do I find out how long I have to wait?

We have been working to make contact with each young person and family currently waiting in order to review your needs and ensure that you know how to contact us during this time.  What we ask of you to assist us in making the best decisions about our service delivery is that you keep us informed of any urgent changes in your child/young person’s mental health so that we can assess accordingly with you.  Such examples may include increasing risk of harm to self or others, a reporting of any unusual symptoms such as reporting being able to hear or see things that others can’t and/or a change in eating habits with food intake being restricted coupled with weight loss and/or excessive exercise.  You can contact the team on 023 8103 0061.

Use of pronouns in Solent CAMHs

Respecting Diversity within Solent CAMHS
Within Solent  CAMHS all staff are aware of the importance of pronouns in the LGBTQ+ community, and celebrating difference whilst creating an inclusive culture within the workplace.

Within the team we are encouraging all employees, regardless of gender identity, to put their correct pronouns in their email signature, name tags, etc.

These positive changes help make our workplace within Solent CAMHS more inclusive of transgender, gender nonconforming, and gender non-binary people. Using appropriate pronouns respects people's gender identity and  creates a more welcoming environment and working culture for people of all genders.

Learning Culture:

Within the team we value and create a learning culture and are mindful that using the wrong pronouns can be hurtful, individuals may be left feeling that their diverse needs and identity are not valued or respected. There will be situations where a pronoun is not indicated or unknown, it is then helpful to use gender-neutral pronouns.

Our commitment within the team is to ensure all staff are respected, validating and modelling that everyone counts. This includes drawing on individual strengths working collaboratively in creating a safe and accountable work place. Our goal is to provide the best possible services and outcomes to children and their families, embedding the values we believe in within our practice.