CAMHS in East Cheshire East PCF AGM Dr

CAMHS in East Cheshire East PCF AGM Dr Matthew Howard Clinical Director & 0 -16 Consultant

To cover • What are the services? • PCF feedback Autumn 2017 – Mental health support – Diagnosis (ASD/ASC)

What are the CAMHS Services? • • Primary 0 -16 16 -19 LD CAMHS AAT (East Cheshire CCG only) ED EIP

Cheshire East PCF Autumn 2017 feedback • Top 3 issues – Accessing support for your child / young person’s mental health 56. 5% – Schools 53. 6% – Diagnosis 52. 2%

Accessing support for your child / YP’s mental health – issues raised • No support unless the child / young person is critical / suicidal or self harming. This is short sighted as many problems could have been prevented / significantly less impact with early intervention, ongoing support, easier access and reviews • Comment– Referral criteria/ Generic & LD CAMHS – Fire-fighting / Capacity vs demand – Investment in Community / Mental health / CAMHS

Access contd. • Setting up open surgeries / workshops / webinars / decent website for resources and strategies where CAMHS could share their expertise with many families in one go would be a start, and leave people feeling less "cut adrift" – – A good idea Sustainability You in mind Mymind. org. uk

Access contd. • Need support for school refusal, low self-esteem, low mood, coping strategies, anxiety, anger, going it alone with medication – These are much broader than specialist mental health services can possibly tackle alone – Are they due to treatable mental health disorders? – Are there other services available that can help?

• CAMHS – hard to access, unsupportive, need out of hours service – Access: • Who can refer? • Referral criteria • New (upcoming) developments in South (& Vale Royal) – “Unsupportive” • Is this just about capacity? – Out of hours service • Current • Advice line

Diagnosis – issues raised • Delays / lengthy waiting times, resulting in families having to pay for a private diagnosis in order to get their child’s needs met. • Axia assessments not recognised by schools? • Currently: – East- from CWP CAMHS • 22 months w/l • 250 ADHD/ASD assessments per year / about 400 referrals – Central- from Community Paediatrics • No assessment if not in school

Diagnosis issues contd. • Difficulties being believed / taken seriously when difficulties are not obvious / visible • Schools are not acknowledging needs without diagnosis • Impact of delays upon child / yp and their mental health / self esteem / self knowledge • Suggested that support (courses etc) for children / young people and their families while they are waiting may help reduce the impact • Professionals doubting / disbelieving the parents • When an individual may have more than one condition, only the primary condition is taken into consideration

• 2019 – Cheshire CCGs to commission a Pan. Cheshire protocol for neurodevelopmental assessment? – Very early stages

Where are the gaps & Final comments • Gaps – Post diagnostic support in ASD – Standard pathways – Out of hours • It's not great • It's getting better-in some areas and in some ways