Barnet CAMS Paediatric Liaison Service
Our Paediatric Liaison Team based in Barnet General Hospital, was established in 2005 with the impetus of the National Service Framework (NSF). The staffing level has changed very little and currently consists of a Lead Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist (0.2 WTE), Consultant Child Psychiatrist (0.4), and a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist (0.6). Closely linked to the service there is a Special Nurse (0.8WTE) who manages the CAMHS patients on the ward.
The work covers the Special Care Baby Unit in the Neo-Natal Ward, the Paediatric Ward and Children’s Outpatients, with also liaison to the A&E department. We are based in the hospital but are part of the larger Barnet CAMHS Service.
The work of the Paediatric Liaison service includes:
- Individual psychological/psychoanalytic treatment of children and adolescents either to inpatients or outpatients referred by medical and allied health professionals to our service
- Joint appointments with medical professionals
- More free-flowing support of inpatients e.g. through joining ward rounds or visiting patients at their bedside
- Family work
- Support of parents experiencing distress due to their child/infants condition and often trauma associated with this and possibly their own physical or mental health conditions
- Psychiatry assessments and monitoring of medication
- Liaison with medical, health, education, social services, adult mental health and tier 2 & 4 sectors. Helping to improve communication between all, in order for the child to be held in mind and receive the best support possible
- Support for staff - either in an ad hoc manner or more formally in Work Discussion Groups for specific roles e.g. Junior Doctors, Neo-Natal Nurses and Home Treatment Team.
- De-briefs open for all staff following a death of child or infant, or an incident which has caused significant distress
- Teaching and training to junior and experienced staff and parents
- Input into all psycho-social weekly multi-disciplinary meetings to help think about infants, children and parents who are presenting with some psychological concern/need for extra support
- Other multi-disciplinary meetings such as case conferences, pre-discharge meetings, strategy meetings etc...
- Running support groups for parents and encouraging peer-to-peer support
- Managing of the flow of children presenting in an acute crisis through self-harm, suicidal attempts or ideation and psychosis to ensure rapid assessments and correct discharge or placements or management through the Adolescent Crisis Team
- We are all also part of the Self-Harm Rota on a regular basis.
We have become embedded into the hospital. Due to the strong link between physical and emotional health, with each affecting one another, especially in chronic or acute conditions, our team has an important part in processing the condition and the longer term impact on the infant, child, adolescent and their family. This also applies for the others supporting and assessing them, within and beyond the hospital.