Q/AB/27Oct/2010

Q2A

Got a quick question ......

Hi there,
I am seeing CAMHS - child adlocents mental health service which i do not find help, i have found another service called CMHT - community mental health team which you have to be refered by your Gp, if i saw my Gp and wanted to be refered to CMHT can the Gp turn me down on this?

Thank you

This is our reply.......

It's unlikely that your GP will refuse to refer you to the Community Mental Health Team unless there is 'sufficient reason'. However, depending on how mental health services are organised in your area, your GP may be unable to refer you. This is what we've been able to find out:

# CAMHS is the specialist team within general mental health services which was set up to work with young people until they're 18 because it's recognised that young people's needs are not the same as those of adults

# in some parts of the country, community mental health teams do work with particular groups of young people e.g. those under 18 who are no longer in full time education, and who are suffering from mental illness or severe emotional distress. Some community mental health teams will accept self-referrals, some will only accept referrals from GPs.

So our best advice is to contact your Community Mental Health Team direct and ask which group of people they work with and what their referral procedure is. If they work only work with 18year olds and over, and they need a referral from a GP, we suggest you talk to your own GP, explain why you think CAMHS isn't helping, and see what they suggest.
If you're not satisfied with what they say, you have the right to see another GP in the same practice or register with a new doctor at a different surgery.

Q2A does our best to ensure that all answers are correct when they are posted. If this answer is more than 2 months old please ask us it again so we can check it. Expert advice and every precaution has been taken to ensure that the information

in this answer is trustworthy and reliable, but the publishers do not hold themselves responsible for any inaccuracy as information can go out of date very quickly. This page gives general guidance only and should not be treated as a complete and authoritative statement of the law. With regard to suggested weblinks given in this reply please note that Lancashire County Council is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

home answer bank answer file storyboard

send an enquiry ask a quick question