Child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) (Calderdale)
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About the service
Part of the Open Minds partnership in Calderdale.
Child and adolescent mental health services in Calderdale are delivered by a number of organisations that make up the Open Minds Partnership.
The Open Minds Partnership’s approach is based on a person’s individual need. It focusses on making help and support accessible through organisations working together to provide emotional health and wellbeing services.
Partner organisations work closely and share knowledge so a young person should only tell their story once, before being signposted to the right place for support or advice.
The Open Minds Partnership’s priority is to provide personalised care that meets each young person’s own needs and goals.
We offer assessment and interventions to children and young people who present with persistent and significant difficulties with the following:
- Depression where severe or not responded to earlier intervention
- Self-harm and suicide attempt
- Severe anxiety (including obsessive compulsive disorder)
- Eating disorders with significant risk or impairment (such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia)
- Psychosis (in those aged under 14)
- Somatoform disorders
- ADHD that has reached the appropriate stage on the pathway.
- Prolonged adjustment difficulties eg abnormal grief reactions.
- Persistent post-traumatic disorder (PTSD)
- Learning disabilities
- Autistic spectrum conditions (at appropriate times)
Our aim is to improve the mental health of individuals accessing our service and we work closely with other Trust and community services to ensure the needs of the individual are best met. We work alongside other organisations, including children’s social care, Northpoint Wellbeing Services, schools, school nurses and other community-based organisations.
Why would someone choose the service?
The emotional wellbeing of children, young people and families accessing our service is the first priority of our team.
Our team work hard to build positive relationships with children during such a challenging period in their life. The coping strategies and self-management techniques our team use ensure that children can live life to their full potential.
Staff you may meet
- Dietitians use the science of food to help people to make good choices about food and lifestyle. Nutrition is an important part of recovery and wellbeing. All service users admitted to a Trust ward have their nutritional state assessed.
- There are more than 60 different specialities that doctors work within the NHS. Each is unique but there are many characteristics which are common. Roles range from working in a hospital to being based in the community as a GP.
- Nurses who choose to specialise in the mental health branch of nursing work with GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists, and others, to help care for patients. Increasingly, care is given in the community, with mental health nurses visiting patients and their families at home, in residential centres, in prisons or in specialist clinics or units.
- Adult psychotherapists work with people to assess and treat a range of emotional, social or mental health issues. They help people tackle problems such as behavioural issues, common challenges such as anxiety and depression or more complex or severe issues, such as psychosis or a personality disorder diagnosis.
- Receptionists are the first link for many patients and visitors. They often work on their own or with one or two other receptionists, greeting patients as they arrive and check them in. They might also collect patient notes and ensure that these vital records go to the right healthcare professional. In a clinic, they may make appointments and arrange patient transport.
- We have a range of health workers who all have different specialities. This could be in a certain condition, a therapy or the advice they can give you. Our specialists our highly skilled and trained professionals, ready to offer you help and advice whenever you need it.
- Telephonists (also known as switchboard operators) are employed throughout the health service. They may work on a busy switchboard in a hospital or the Trust headquarters. Like receptionists, they are an important first point of contact for patients and their families and are a vital link between a caller and the person who can help.
- Therapy is a broad term and can range from occupational therapists to behavioural therapists. Our therapists are trained in their specialist area and type of therapy to make sure we can offer the very best care.