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The service provides specialist assessment and treatment for children and young people who have moderate to profound learning disability and present with mental health needs and/or challenging behaviour.
- Service Type: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
- Service Contact: camhsldreferrals@swlstg.nhs.uk
- Service Category: Community
- Disabled access: Yes
- Address: Trinity Building, Springfield University Hospital, 15 Springfield Drive, London, SW17 0YF
- Reception hours: Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm
- Reception phone number: 020 3513 4650
About our care
This service is a Tier 3 service providing specialist assessment and treatment for children and young people who have moderate to profound learning disability and present with mental health needs and/or challenging behaviour.
We offer a range of treatments and assessments for children and young people experiencing mental and physical health problems or presenting with behaviour that challenges those around them. Where appropriate, combinations of approaches are used within a multi-disciplinary framework, in line with the young person’s needs and goals as agreed with the family through a care planning approach.
We are a multidisciplinary team and have a range of professionals that can support young people and their families:
- Psychiatrist
- Learning Disability Nurses
- Psychologists
- Behaviour Specialists
- Speech and Language Therapists
Who is this service for?
We support young people (5-18 years old) who are registered with a GP in Wandsworth, Sutton, Merton, Kingston and Richmond, and their support needs cannot be met by other Tier 2 or paediatric services in their local borough.
The service supports young people with diagnosed moderate to profound learning disabilities, or young people with evidence of suspected moderate to profound learning disabilities. Helpful evidence can be in the form of Cognitive Assessments, Educational Psychology Assessments, Paediatric Reports, Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs).
Issues that are solely school based will not be accepted, with the exception for referrals for Merton-based provision within two schools.
Presenting difficulties may include:
- Behaviours that have a significant impact on the child or young person’s development, quality of life, and cause marked distress to the child/young person/family or carers.
- Dysregulation of such frequency and intensity that cause distress to the individual and family or carers and potentially impacts upon family resilience.
- Presentation indicative of established or emerging moderate to severe mental health needs or mental illness as co-morbid presentation
- Indicators which are clear and persistent, which are causing functioning to deteriorate and problems to escalate
- The child or young person's presentation is severe and complex, impacts greatly on family life and activities within the community and is leading to a high risk of exclusion or family breakdown.
The service works closely with other agencies and professionals such as:
· School
· Social Care
· Care Agencies
· Paediatricians
Referrals and access
Referrals are received from health, social and educational providers. The Referral form [docx] 80KB should be sent to Camhsldreferrals@swlstg.nhs.uk We discuss all referrals weekly. If you have any queries about a referral, you can email us or call on 020 3513 4650.
If you are unsure if a young person meets the criteria for our service, please look through our referral eligibility letter [docx] 83KB or contact the team to discuss the potential referral. If a referral form is partially completed or missing attached documents, we are unable to process these, and will be returned to the referrer to provide additional information.
The service does not accept referrals solely for the diagnosis of a Learning Disability, Autism or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). These referrals should be made directly to the CAMHS Neurodevelopmental Team (NDT).
Patient information
Videos:
- PBS and Challenging behaviour - https://youtu.be/epjud2Of610
- What is a learning disability? https://youtu.be/tfkVA2BKIyY
- What is Autism? https://youtu.be/Lk4qs8jGN4U
- Communication with people with a learning disability - https://youtu.be/IyV1v-nib38
Websites:
- National Autistic Society- https://www.autism.org.uk/
- Mencap https://www.mencap.org.uk/
- Challenging Behaviour Foundation https://www.challengingbehaviour.org.uk/
Useful resources:
SWL Hospital Passport [pdf] 1MB
Child Hospital Passport [pdf] 166KB
LD how to complain [pdf] 837KB
ABC Chart (SWLStG) [docx] 52KB
ABC explanation, eg and blank chart [doc] 56KB
Trust sexual behaviours leaflet [pdf] 2MB
Trust leaflet communication [pdf] 2MB
Local Offer
In each borough there is a local offer webpage which provides services available to families and young people with SEN. There is information here on leisure and social activities young people can access. In some cases, you made need to liaise with your allocated Social Worker or Short Breaks professional to support access.
Autism
In each borough there are dedicated services to support families with children diagnosed with Autism.
- Wandsworth Autism Advisory Service
- Sutton Cognus Autism Service
- Merton Autism Parent Service
- Richmond and Kingston
STOMP and STAMP
Stopping over medication of people with a learning disability and autistic people (STOMP) and supporting treatment and appropriate medication in paediatrics (STAMP) are key national campaigns for our service. Whilst these campaigns are not about not prescribing medication, it is important to consider that any medication prescribed is for the right reasons, right dose and a carefully considered time frame. All medication prescribed is within the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance.
For further information: NHS England » Stopping over medication of people with a learning disability and autistic people (STOMP) and supporting treatment and appropriate medication in paediatrics (STAMP)
