Children and young people's mental health service (CYPMHS) teams
There are lots of services supporting children and young people with their mental health in Leeds, and not everyone needs our help. You can find lots of information, resources and services on the MindMate website below. The MindMate Single Point of Access (SPA) will be able to get you the best help for you.
CYPMHS is an NHS provider of specialist mental health services for children and young people in Leeds, from school age up to their 18th birthday.
Our staff are highly trained in a range of different assessment techniques and evidence based therapies. Staff work closely in teams so that we can offer services tailored to the needs of the children, young people and families we see.
We are not an emergency service, if you have injured yourself, please dial 999 or go to your nearest A&E department.
Note: Leeds CYPMHS crisis call line is available to all children and young people living in Leeds who are concerned about keeping themselves safe. The call line is also available to parents, carers and professionals who are concerned about a child or young person.
You can contact the call line about yourself, a child or young person whether they are accessing our other services or not.
Information on the service
Below are guides to the teams you may be involved with during your journey within our service. Information on our Therapy team, Eating Disorder team and Learning Disability team can be found below the accordions.
The core team provides flexible, tailored support to meet the needs of each child or young person. We aim to help to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions, and support safe transitions between services, all while working collaboratively with the child, their family, and other professionals. We aim to:
work in a multidisciplinary and multi-agency way to provide holistic, patient-centred care
use the best available evidence to guide care
provide care using a formulation-based approach to fully understand the child or young person’s needs
collaborate with and empower children, young people, and their families to actively participate in planning their care
support discharge from paediatric services for children and young people who are under our care
Common presentations and needs
Children and young people accessing the core team may be experiencing:
severe or emerging mental health difficulties
depressive or mood disorders
hearing voices or other perceptual disturbances
severe anxiety disorders
disordered eating (severe eating disorders should be referred to the CYPMHS Specialist Eating Disorder team [link])
deliberate self-harm and/or risk of suicide
signs of deterioration in any of the above areas
Responsive, person-centred support
The Leeds CYPMHS Core team understands that a young person’s mental health and circumstances can change. The team provides flexible, person-centred support that is reviewed regularly, to ensure it continues to meet the child or young person’s needs. We work closely with other CYPMHS teams and pathways and when needed, we include other services such as education, Social Care and inpatient hospitals to ensure the best possible outcomes.
Supporting children and young people at risk
The team can offer additional short-term, focused interventions to children and young people whose emotional difficulties may be escalating and putting them at increased risk, which can help to reduce the possibility of admission to an inpatient unit. We also support children and young people at the point of discharge from hospital to step back down into community services, ensuring care is safe, timely, and effective.
Children and young people are discharged from the core team when the most appropriate care pathway or intervention has been identified.
The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service (CYPMHS) Medication Clinics team provides specialist assessment, treatment, and prescribing support for children and young people when medication is needed as part of their care.
We are a team of specialist clinicians, including consultant psychiatrists, doctors, nurse prescribers and a CYPMHS assistant. We aim to work in a collaborative and person-centred way, involving children or young people, and their families or carers in decisions about care.
We support children and young people with a range of mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions where medication may be needed, including:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Depression and low mood
Other mental health conditions where medication forms part of treatment
Medication management and reviews
We offer assessment, prescribing, and ongoing review appointments. Follow-up appointments are arranged as often as needed to make sure treatment remains safe and effective. During your appointments, we will discuss with you about when your next follow-up will be.
At appointments, you can expect to talk about how you are feeling, how the medication is working, any side effects, and whether any changes are needed. We encourage you to bring a trusted adult with you to support you to manage your medication where required.
For children and young people who are stable on ADHD medication, care usually involves an annual medication review with advice about how often your physical health should be monitored at your GP surgery.
We work closely with children, young people, families, GPs, and other professionals involved in individual’s care to support safe and informed treatment decisions.
Accessing the service
The team provides a city-wide service across Leeds for children and young people registered with a Leeds GP, up to their 18th birthday.
Referrals to the team are usually made from within CYPMHS or through agreed pathways:
ADHD medication referrals are typically received from the Neurodevelopmental Assessment team, or via MindMate Single Point of Access (SPA) where an assessment has taken place outside of Leeds CYPMHS
Referrals for medication for mental health conditions are usually made by other CYPMHS teams, such as the core team or Therapy team
Appointments may take place at:
Parkside Health Centre
Reginald Centre
Armley Moor Health Centre
Where appropriate, appointments may also be offered virtually via Microsoft Teams or by telephone.
As young people approach 18, we will work with them to plan what their care will look like as they move into adult services or GP care. Any changes to care will always be discussed so that young people and families feel included in the decision making, informed and supported.
Between appointments
If you need support between appointments, we recommend using the crisis call line or the Neurodevelopmental (ND) Hub for advice and support.
For medication-related queries, you can contact the Medication Clinics Team directly and we will aim to respond as soon as reasonably possible.
Please note:
There is a minimum 72-hour turnaround for repeat prescription requests when medication is not under shared care with a GP
If medication is on repeat prescription with your GP, please contact your GP surgery directly to request this
How to get in touch with the Prescribing team
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (excluding bank holidays)
The Neurodevelopmental Assessment team undertake autism and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) assessments for those children and young people who meet the criteria for CYPMHS. This is a specialist multi-disciplinary team who, using a clinic model which is in line with NICE (National Institute for Health and Care) guidelines, consider whether a diagnosis of ADHD or autism is appropriate for each young person that they see.
Further information about our service, how to make referrals and where to find support whilst waiting for assessments can be found on the MindMate: Neurodiversity information hub
How to contact the Neurodevelopmental Assessment team
The crisis service operate 8am till 8pm 7 days a week undertaking emergency assessments in Accident and Emergency (A&E) at St James’s and Leeds General Infirmary (LGI). We also offer urgent appointments, follow ups and signposting to other services.
The crisis service is a multi-disciplinary team who work shifts across 7 days providing crisis assessments to young people in A&E. The service also offers in-reach support to young people admitted as inpatients in St James’s and LGI if they have a significant comorbid unmet mental health need. We will also support their families and associated professionals. The service works closely with all other CYPMHS teams and they can refer young people into other pathways if needed.
The crisis call line provides telephony based support only. The crisis call line is open to all children, young people, parents, carers or other adults and professionals who are concerned about a child or young person’s mental health. You or the person you are calling about do or does not have to be open to a CYPMHS team to access the crisis call line for support.
You cannot self-refer into the crisis service, but you can telephone the crisis call line for telephone based help and support. The crisis call line is co-located with the Crisis and Liaison team.
A&E and MMSPA can refer young people to the Crisis service.
For help and support overnight (8pm till 8am) contact Night Owls (0800 1488244) or 111 for advice and support or go to A&E in an emergency.
Overnight a mental health specialist practitioner from Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust (LYPFT) can do an emergency CYPMHS assessment of a young person in A&E.
If you would like more information on Crisis services within Leeds, go to Leeds MindMate SPA
If you are 13 to 17 years or the parent or carer of children aged 5 to 17 years, you can talk directly to the Single Point of Access (Mindmate SPA) team. Call 0300 555 0324 during office hours or make an online self-referral. Decisions about which is the most appropriate service for a particular child or young person will be made by the SPA once the referral is received.
