Having dealt with a mid teen cutting and overdosing in response to anxiety and depression all I can say is that whilst adult mh is underfunded camhs is a national scandal but let's not forget that it is ccgs who make the commissioning decisions about where the money goes.
We got nowhere and yes although dd is from a loved family and wanted for nothing socially, economically or emotionally the first response was to parent blame and then to move goal posts and claim I had misunderstood the plan/timeframe. As a professional and director of a complex organisation I am not inclined to misunderstand even when dealing with very complex information.
Fortunately we had funds to refer dd privately to a consultant psychiatrist who ruled out potential endocrine issues and vit D etc. DD had one to one therapy, fluoxetine and at her request an ASD assessment - because she knew there was something fundamentally wrong. The psych also assessed for ADHD which hadn't occurred to us. DD had some ASD traits but not enough for a diagnosis but she did have ADD. Looking back it was obvious all the glimpses of brilliance and never folliwing through. GCSEs were the catalyst for her mh to spiral. She was also very adept at masking.
CAMHS may be under resourced but in my dealings I found them to exist on a culture of excuses and a very jobsworth badis where they did thhe minimum they could get away with both organisationally and individually. All within a 9-5 set up which is grossly out of kilter with 21st century lifestyles. So many lost letters, phone numbers and sheer errors in reports, etc, due either to incompetence or simply not caring.
The people assesding are likely to be nurses who then escalateinfirmation to multidisciplinary teams ime often incorrectly. This is a huge problem and like hv's these nurses who have consciously decided to avoid the hard graft of hands on nursing and shifts. Any other medical issue is initially reviewed by an appropriately qualified doctor who determines the tests, diagnosis and treatment plan. For example: asthma, broken limb, leukaemia, diabetes etc. No other clinical illness is the responsibility entirely of a nurse.
Also, whilst I get the entry into CAMHS via A&E that is not what hospitalbudgets are for. Often acute admissions are not necessary and not necessarily helpful just to facilitate a CAMHS review. There should as a minimum be specialist help-lines for the public and on call CAMHS clinicians to provide assessments far beyond 9-5 windows. Every paediatric A&E dept should have a CAMHS nurse attached in the current set up.
CAMHS and CCG's overall need to be far mire cognizant of prevention and early intervention and some economic cost analysis needs to take place of failure to fund this service. YP nit realusing pitential, permanent impact on self esteem, parents losing jobs due to having to provide 24 hour care because matters escalate or because provision of services is so inflexible let alone parents spiralling into depression as a result of this fiasco that us CAMHS.
However op if private care is not an option my advice when dealing with these clowns is as follows:
It is essential that you make a written note of every interraction. Everything they say they will do confirm to them in writing with time frames nd send all letters registered delivery so there is an audit trail. Put in writing anything with which you disagree and request in writing that your child is
Assessed face to face by a psychiatrist or that a psychiatrist reviews care plan against any concerns you may have and that psychiatrist personally signs off on that particular report. If you hit any ling delays, refusals to help do involve your MP - they can be very helpful.