Children and young people's mental health service (CYPMHS) teams

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)
• 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 when your next follow-up will be.

At your 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)
• Phone: 0113 843 2711
• Email: lcht.meds.cypmhs@nhs.net

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

• Email: lcht.nd.cypmhs@nhs.net
• Phone: 0113 8432720

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 is part of the crisis service provision and is co-located with the crisis and liaison team.  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.

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 Urgent help – all services

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.

• MindMate SPA self-referral
• Referral information for professionals

Finding Help and Support at School

Children are entitled to access support based on their needs, and they do not need to wait until they have a confirmed diagnosis or formal assessment.

• Each school has a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) or Inclusion Manager. It is their job to co-ordinate the provision for all pupils in the school who have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
• Find out who the SENCO is in your school, you can ask the school office or check the school’s website.
• Make sure the SENCO knows your child is on the ND pathway for assessment.
• Discuss any specific needs you think your child has in school with them. Include things like sensory, emotional, learning or communication needs. Schools are normally happy to make reasonable adjustments to help support pupils.
• Your child may be included on the ‘SEN Register’. This is a list of pupils in the school who require extra support in some way.
• Not all pupils with SEND need dedicated support in the classroom for their academic work. Support can come in lots of different ways, including promoting self-help and independence skills, organisation, managing anxieties and developing social communication skills.
• Ask the SENCO if your child would benefit from having a ‘one-page profile,’ so staff working with them can see at a glance anything important they need to know.
• Older pupils may be eligible for specific access arrangements to help them formal assessments and exams. Each school has a member of staff who assesses this need and organises this in line with examination guidelines.
• Schools follow a ‘graduated response’ framework to meet the additional needs of all pupils. This involves assessing, planning adjustments and then reviewing these.
• Following this some pupils with additional needs may require assessment for an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP). The EHCP allows different services to work together. It identifies the best way to meet the needs of children or young people.
• You can look on the school website for other information about their SEND policies and procedures.
• The Government also details the SEND code of practice.

Support and Resources

There are many organisations which can offer you free advice and support whilst you are waiting for assessment.

• MindMate ND Information Hub is a local website with lots of information and resources for neurodivergent children and young people, with or without diagnosis.
• Young Minds provides a hub of resources to support your mental health, including mental health within the context of neurodivergence.
• The National Autistic Society (NAS) is the UK’s leading charity for autism. It provides lots of information about autism and useful information about ideas for adjustments.
• Leeds Local Offer single source of information for children and young people with SEND, and their families, outlining the support available from local education, health, and social care services.
• The ADHD Foundation is a website that may be helpful at any stage of the assessment and diagnosis journey
  ADHD UK also has lots of information about strategies and recommended products.
• Barnardo’s offer a parenting support programme for parents and carers of neurodivergent children and young people aged 5-18 years old.
• Leeds SEND Information Special education Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support (SENDIASS) is a free and impartial advice service which helps families understand their rights and navigate support systems within their local area.
• Autism Arena CIC is a Leeds based, non-profit organisation providing groups, peer support and practical workplace advice for those transitioning into adulthood. Their ethos is to improve the life of those with neurodivergence by strengthening the network around them.