C&H CAMHS MHST eligibility

City & Hackney Mental Health Support Team

Eligibilty

Universal Offer - Parents and young people can access the universal offer via school or by signing up for workshops.

Targeted Support - Young people can access support from the Education Mental Health Practitioner at their school by asking their Form Tutor, Head of Year or schools SENCo to make a referral.

If you are 18 years or older and attend a college in Hackney you can still attend MHST workshops.

Eligibility criteria for targeted support from Education Mental Health Practitioners:

Young person is aged 5-18
Young person attends a City & Hackney primary school, secondary school or college
The young person is experiencing mild to moderate behaviour difficulties (primary school only- under 8),
The young person is experiencing mild to moderate anxiety (Primary & Secondary) or low mood (Secondary only)

Children and young people who would not be eligible for MHST

A child under 5 who attends nursery school
A young person aged 18 who has left their Year 13 education provision
The problem requiring support would be best treated in an alternative service e.g. young people with more complex difficulties that would be referred to CAMHS.
Young people who are currently open to social care or other CAMHS services.
Children or young people who present with difficulties not suitable for MHST interventions and require more specialist input.
Young people who presents with risk behaviours such as self-harm or suicidal ideation.

Urgent Support

If you are a child or young person (or their parent) experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact the City and Hackney mental health crisis line on 0800 073 0006

You can access CAMHS Crisis services by attending the A&E (Accident and Emergency) department at the Homerton University Hospital which is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

If a child is out of school due to heightened anxiety please refer to Hackney’s EBSA (Emotional Based School Avoidance) Guidance here.

Older young people who are not eligible for MHST can still get support and self -refer (with support from parents if needed) to Off Centre (for ages 16-25) or Talk Changes for those age 18 or older.

Referrals to MHST

Parents and carers

Not every school has the WAMHS and MHST programme although most now do. If you are a parent or carer and your child attends a state-maintained school in City & Hackney it is likely that they are already or will have been part of the WAMHS programme since September 2020. You can find out more by asking your school directly and getting in touch with the school’s Designated Mental Health Lead who can link you in with our service.

Practitioners

MHST referrals and queries from practitioners and school staff can be directed to elft.mhst.referrals@nhs.net

If you are a professional and have a query you can contact Holly Lamben, Clinical Team Lead email holly.lambden@nhs.net

We aim to respond within 5 working days.