CAMHS stands for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and is a service that provides assessment and treatment for young people and their families who are experiencing mental health difficulties.

CAMHS provides a specialist medical mental health service to those aged up to 18 years who have moderate to severe mental illness that requires the input of a specialist multi-disciplinary mental health team, including:
• Moderate to severe depression
• Mood disorders
• Psychosis
• Anxiety disorders
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD/ADD)
• Moderate/severe eating disorders
• Suicidal behaviours or ideation suspected to be due to
mental illness

While a broad range of services support the mental health of children and adolescents, the term ‘CAMHS’ is usually applied very specifically to services that provide specialist mental health treatment and care to young people up to 18 years of age through a multidisciplinary team.

Referrals to the service are accepted from relevant medical professionals including GPs. All referrers must work in collaboration with the young
person’s GP, this means that the referrer must contact the GP to discuss and agree the potential referral to ensure collaborative working.