Camhs Survey

[SammyL38]

Hi there

I wanted to introduce myself and my facebook page.

I am a mum to 2 children. My older daughter has SEN and associated mental health issues. She has been unwell with it for many years and is only 10. In January last year things were so bad she was admitted to a childrens mental health hospital.

This was mainly due to a complete failure by our local authority and their camhs services.

I run my own support group and public awareness page.

The public awareness page can be found here www.facebook.com/Its-Not-Just-You-1493432887573183/

In 2015 it was announced in the budget that £1.25 billion was going to be spent on camhs over a few years. However it is apparent that services have been cut further and families have not been receiving the help they need. It has transpired that the money wasn't ring fenced so not all of this years money may have made its way to camhs and was possibly absorbed elsewhere.

4 weeks ago I wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister about the state of the camhs services. Within days I was contacted by various media outlets and have been in the Independent on Sunday & various local newspapers. I was on LBC talking about childrens mental health and was also interviewed by the BBC and was on BBC News, BBC Breakfast and an audio version was on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Following the open letter to the PM I was swamped by other mums all who had, had terrible experiences with camhs for one reason or the other.

Because of this I set up my own camhs survey to find out what peoples experiences were. I have a few MP's (including on senior/influential minister) following my story and very interested in the results.

If anyone on here has been effected by childrens mental health and has either been referred to camhs or refused a referral for either budget reasons or other excuses please can I ask you to take a few minutes to fill out this survey. Its anonymous and I don't get to see who has completed it.The information will be shared in order to bring about a much needed change to the system.

www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/INJY_CAMHS

Thank you

have filled it in, thanks

My DS was referred to CAHMS .. For reasons much minor reason in comparison to some of the stories on here.. I have been been shocked how great I have been a fre months waiting time.. I haven't completed your survey as I have had such a positive experience which seems out of sync with everyone else..I really wish you luck...At a time when our children are so fragile help should be there when they need it.

Done. York. Mixed experience with Camhs. When finally got round to dealing with the depression that ds has highlighted via GP weeks before ds had got to harming himself stage. Once they did act it happened pretty quickly but unfortunately we had change of counsellor part way through and then after 3 months the latest one left as well. ds thinks he doesn't need any more therapy but at least we have regular reviews for medication which means there's still some contact if things deteriorate.

MY DD 13 had suicidal thoughts and anxiety and had written she wanted to die. The GP said no point in referring to CAHMS as she won't meet their criteria because their budget has been cut by 40%.A few weeks later she started having panic attacks and hearing voices, went back to different GP who referred her straight away and said they had no idea why the first GP wouldn't have referred her.

She had an assessment within 3 weeks and has her first appointment for counselling in July. They have also arranged an Early Intervention appointment for her in June. I think its been quite efficient and quick, but I have got her some private counselling in the meantime which is helping her. It will be about 3 months between referral and her first CAHMS counselling appointment which is a long time if you have no further help or your child is declining rapidly. Ill post the survey when we have attended the sessions.

Oh, we are north somerset

My 15 daughter didn't meet the criteria - she's does now 2 years in and 4 attempted suicides later. My life is in turmoil. Thankfully our Camhs nurse and her psychiatrist are actually pretty amazing. But it's a definite lottery on the service and care you receive.