Children and young people’s mental health services in Leeds

In December 2014 a partnership between YoungMinds and Healthwatch Leeds was formed to undertake a thorough consultation for Leeds in this area. This was endorsed by Leeds City Council Health and Wellbeing and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Board in relation to their inquiry into Leeds Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Targeted Mental Health in Schools (TaMHS). It was also welcomed by Leeds Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) who were in the process of reviewing the whole system of emotional and mental services for children and young people in Leeds. YoungMinds and Healthwatch Leeds ran a survey (online and paper based) during January 2015 for young people aged 11-25 and parent/carers of children who had used mental health services and relevant professionals in Leeds. 300 responses were recorded (113 young people, 102 professionals and 85 parent/ carers). This was complemented by a focus group which was attended by 12 young people aged 15-25. The purpose of the consultation and subsequent workshop was to explore people’s current views and experiences of mental health services. The findings from both surveys and workshops fed into this report.

The key findings within the report state there was a general concern and frustration from all parties that many children and young people wait too long for the right support, particularly within specialist CAMHS. Parent/carers and young people also talked about the lack of support and communication from services during their wait and the detrimental impact of the wait on their mental health and family relationships. There was significant concern amongst professionals about the threshold for referral to CAMHS being too high, and that only referrals for children and young people with the most serious issues were being accepted. Young people, parents and professionals rated highly the quality of services offered by CAMHS for those children and young people that ‘got through the door’ but felt that some of the most vulnerable children and young people were ‘slipping through the net’. Key gaps in services were mentioned, such as access to crisis support and the gap between TaMHS and CAMHS, where young people needed more support than TaMHS could offer but didn’t meet the criteria for CAMHS. The transition to adult services was also an issue for young people. There was some lack of awareness and misunderstanding by professionals and some carers about referral systems and waiting times of some services including TaMHS, CAMHS and The Market Place. There was a general feeling that referral systems could be easier and more straightforward. Young people and parents raised the need for more young people friendly services of confidentiality and the option to see professionals without their parents. The Market Place was frequently mentioned as a good example of a young people friendly service in terms of its welcoming environment, flexibility, choice and confidentiality policy. Young people and parents acknowledged many times the positive impact from services, the quality of care and support they had received from individual professionals. Although the majority of young people and parent/carers spoke highly of professionals, there were a significant number that reported feeling frustrated by professionals that didn’t listen to them. Some felt that they were being driven by the professionals’ agenda rather than taking a more child or young person centred approach. TaMHS was described as a service that was working well, providing accessible good quality care locally with quicker referral times than CAMHS. which were local, flexible with appointment times and in less clinical environments. They also stressed the importance to them.