Single Point of Access (SPA)

It can be difficult waiting for support after being referred to CAMHS services. We are committed to seeing Children and Young people as soon as possible and try to keep our waiting times to a minimum. However, these can depend on the demand for services and staffing. We are keen to provide open and clear information about wait times for each of the services you are waiting to access. The following detail explains average waiting times, as well as number of people waiting, and likely time you will wait from a referral to initial assessment.  

Please note, these are average waits, and you may find yourself seen sooner or slightly longer than estimated. A number of factors can influence how long you may wait to be seen, and cases are ‘triaged’ to decide those at risk and may require sooner appointments.  

To support you during your waits, we provided useful tools and information which you can use to support you. These can be found under the resources and while you wait pages.

Single Point of Access (SPA) — these are the assessment services which receive the referrals and are the first point of contact with CAMHS 

These wait times reflect the average time from referral to the first meaningful contact (i.e. assessment either by telephone, face to face, or e-consultation). As these times are averages, you may be seen sooner or later than the times given.

*Please note, these wait times incorporate the time waited for Neurodevelopmental screening questionnaires being returned from parents/carers and schools prior to first contact, which impacts on the reported average wait time figures.

spa waiting times

Kingston Tier 3

Tier 3 - "Getting more help" therapy waits

Tier 3 services are for children and young people who require help with moderate to severe mental health needs. We sometimes call these services 'Getting more help'.  

This table reflects wait times from referral to treatment in Tier 3 (numbers of people per waiting category) and overall average wait for Kingston Tier 3 . As these are average waits you may be seen sooner or later .    

Kingston tier 3

 

Merton Tier 3

This table reflects wait times from referral to treatment in Tier 3 (numbers of people per waiting category) and overall average wait for Merton Tier 3. As these are average waits you may be seen sooner or later.

merton tier 3

 

 

Richmond Tier 3

This table reflects wait times from referral to treatment in Tier 3 (numbers of people per waiting category) and overall average wait for Richmond Tier 3. As these are average waits you may be seen sooner or later.  

richmond tier 3

 

Sutton Tier 3

This table reflects wait times from referral to treatment in Tier 3 (numbers of people per waiting category) and overall average wait for Sutton Tier 3. As these are average waits you may be seen sooner or later. 

sutton tier 3

Wandsworth Tier 3

This table reflects wait times from referral to treatment in Tier 3 (numbers of people per waiting category) and overall average wait for Wandsworth Tier 3 . As these are average waits you may be seen sooner or later .   

wandsworth tier 3

 

Specialist teams

CAMHS Eating Disorders

This table reflects waiting times from referral to assessment in the CAMHS Eating Disorder Service (numbers of people per waiting category) for urgent and routine referrals. As these are average waits you may be seen sooner or later.

camhs waiting times

CAMHS Neurodevelopmental team (assessment service)

This table reflects the average waiting times from referral to assessment in the CAMHS Neurodevelopmental Assessment Service in Sutton, Merton and Wandsworth. As these are average waits you may be seen sooner or later. It includes pre-screening waits in the CAMHS SPA service.

Please note, the CAMHS Neurodevelopmental team is an assessment service only. If Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) titration is sought following assessment and diagnosis, there would be an additional wait for treatment within the Tier 3 service - please refer to Tier 3 ADHD titration waits published.

This has been recently updated to include pre-screening waits. Previous published waits were reported for the Neuro Developmental Team only.

Neurodevelopmental waiting times

We want to apologise that some children and young people are waiting longer to access screening and assessments for neurodevelopmental assessments such as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC).

This is because more children and young people are being referred to us for a neurodevelopmental diagnostic assessment, which means that there are more children and young people on waiting lists for these type of assessments.

We understand what a difficult time this is for parents and carers who are supporting a young person with a suspected neurodevelopmental need. 

If you live in Kingston or Richmond and you are waiting for a neurodevelopmental assessment with Achieving for Children then please visit their website here.

What to do while you wait

You can access some helpful resources on our CAMHS resources page.

Please note that a diagnosis of ADHD or ASC is not required for an EHCP.

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