To receive any questions received from Members of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 30 and 30A
Minutes:
i. Miss G Waller
1. Cabinet was recently advised there was now no longer a waiting list for Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Can the portfolio holder please tell me the average, and longest, time lapse between CAMHS accepting a referral and the young person's first appointment?
2. How does CAMHS manage emergency referrals?
3. How does CAMHS signpost support to other agencies if it deems a referral below its threshold?
The Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health, Mr Clifton responded as follows:
Question 1
Cabinet were advised on 18th April 2017 that the last data we had from CAMHs on waiting times for children we support showed that there were no waiting times beyond the 3 weeks; however there was one exception for one child but this was for valid reasons. Further it was highlighted that getting data on waiting times was not an easy process.
Rutland County Council does therefore not receive regular information on provision timescales for individual children in the county; this is similar to all other types of health intervention that Rutland County Council does not directly commission.
That said CAMHs have informed us that the current average waiting times for all children is six weeks.
N.B. Matching process is undertaken 4 times a year so Rutland County Council is clear on which children it supports have been referred to the service.
Question 2
CAMHS referrals are classified in the following groups:
- Within 24 Hours (Emergency) – Referrals to Telephone & Face to Face Assessment and/or Treatment.
- 4 Week (Urgent) – Referrals to Telephone or Face to Face Assessment
- 13 Week (Routine) – Referrals to Telephone or Face to Face Assessment
Referral Process:
Emergency referrals are handled via the CAMHS Crisis team, who operate 08:00 – 22:00, Monday through to Friday. Work outside this is provided by the adult on-call team/ emergency duty team when required.
A telephone call is made within 2 hours and if required a face to face assessment is offered. The telephone and assessment confirms if the patient is suitable for the Crisis Team.
If treatment is required, this is provided straight away either through home treatment or inpatient services. Once completed, the patient is either discharged from care or stepped down to other CAMHS services or to early intervention services.
Question 3
CAMHs can signpost professionals to its Tier 2 CAMHS Support in Rutland, for example:
• A weekly confidential family therapy service operates from the Children’s Centre.
• A Professional Advice Line is available daily for anyone working with young people who may wish to discuss a case and Rutland Foster Carers are offered regular supervision sessions with a clinician.
The CAMHS service works closely with other emotional well-being and mental health support for young people in Rutland within the early intervention services.
a) Rutland has a specialist emotional health and wellbeing practitioner, who sits within the health service school nursing structure, who covers Melton and Rutland, who works with our schools and our young people to deliver 1 to 1 and group support on emotional health and well-being issues.
b) Rutland County Council’s youth service team delivers targeted support to schools and to community groups through its group work programme, schools have specifically asked for support on self-esteem and emotional resilience.
c) Young people who want one to one support and would not meet the threshold for CAMHS intervention, or who may have stepped down from CAMHS services, are offered a mentoring programme or ‘whole family support’ through Rutland County Council’s Early Help targeted intervention practitioners.
d) There is also a health commissioned service that delivers on line counselling and support, called ‘Kooth’ (https://kooth.com/), that will deliver 1 to 1 counselling and live and off line advice forums.
It was agreed to provide a copy of Mr Clifton’s response with the minutes for the meeting.
As a supplementary question, Miss Waller asked how long it took once a referral had been made, for a young person to start to be supported on a regular basis?
Mr Clifton responded that he did not have the information available immediately, but would provide a response outside of the meeting.
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The Chief Executive took the Chair for the next item.
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