Your Local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
Who does CAMHS support?
Powys CAMHS offers assessment and treatment for children and young people, up until their 18th birthday, who have or are thought to have mental health problems or emotional health difficulties.
The service is delivered by a team of professionals who have specialist training and experience in working with children and young people. This includes Clinical Psychologists, Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrists, forensic specialists, Specialist Nurses, Primary Mental Health Workers, Child Psychotherapists and Counsellors.
The service also has a Specialist Nurse working jointly with the Youth Justice Service as well as a psychologist based in the Childrens service who is contracted to work for CAMHS, forensic and youth justice for one day a week. CAMHS and Powys County Council are jointly responsible for a Clinical Psychologist who provides advice to Children’s Services professionals on the emotional and mental health needs of children and young people who are looked after or on the edge of care.
Opening hours
CAMHS have core operating hours of 9:00am – 5:00pm, Monday to Friday.
How to access the service
At the moment CAMHS does not accept self-referral which means that you need to speak to another professional and ask if they think your child or young person needs to be referred to CAMHS.
Any Professional working with young people can contact CAMHS via the Duty system which operates Mon-Fri 9-5 and is staffed by specialist workers who can offer advice / consultation and facilitate referral into the service.
In addition, the following professionals can talk to the Primary Mental Health Worker about children and young people they are concerned about.
Professionals who can access the Primary Mental Health Worker:
- Youth Inclusion Support Workers (YIS)
- Teachers
- Education Welfare Officers
- Youth Workers
- The LRSP – Local Resource Solution Panel
- Adult Community Mental Health Teams
- Voluntary Organisations.
- Advocacy Services
- Paediatric Therapists
The Local Primary Mental Health Service (LPMHS) offers professionals involved with children and young people the opportunity to discuss their concerns and decide on the best way to help the child or young person. Sometimes this is through directly working with the child or young person but it could also be by offering training and/or support to enable the professional to do the work themselves.
If the child or young person does not work directly with the Primary Mental Health worker, they are not considered to be ‘open’ to CAMHS.
Where is the service provided?
The service is based in two main sites with additional clinics being offered in outlying areas.
Opening hours Monday – Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm
North Powys CAMHS
Park Street Clinic
Park Street
Newtown
Powys
SY16 1EG
Tel: 01686 617401
South Powys CAMHS Brecon Hospital
Cerrigcochion Rd
Brecon
Powys
LD3 7NS
Tel: 01874 615662
When is the service available and what do I do outside of these hours?
The Powys CAMHS team is available Monday – Friday between 9am and 5pm. They are not available on Bank Holidays, Weekends or out of office hours.
If you are worried about a child or young person outside of these times, support, advice and guidance is available from:
- The child or young person’s GP
- Shropdoc – 111
- NHS Direct – 0845 46 47
In an emergency, such as a young person trying to cause themselves serious harm, the child or young person must go to the Accident & Emergency Department of the nearest District General Hospital. These are in neighboring counties as there are none in Powys. Dial 999 and ask for the ambulance service.