Enhancing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service Referrals
EN-CAMHS 2 is an NIHR-funded project which aims to co-develop a digital referral tool for NHS CAMHS to improve the quality of CAMHS referrals in England and Wales.
Background
Nearly 500,000 children and young people (CYP) were referred to CAMHS in 2021/2022, and this number has risen steadily since 1999. CAMHS providers are overwhelmed by the number of referrals. About one quarter of children referred to CAMHS are rejected for treatment by the service because the correct referral process has not been followed.
This is distressing for children and families who may wait a long time for an appointment at CAMHS and are turned away without necessarily being signposted elsewhere. The process is also costly to services because time is wasted reviewing referral documents and following up with referrers about children who should have been referred for alternative help.
Watch the video to learn more about EN-CAMHS 1
40+
stakeholders
£1.57m
funding secured
5+ years
(May 2021-November 2026)
Project progress
CO-DESIGN
We developed the tool with over 30 stakeholders, including young people, parents and carers, CAMHS professionals, GPs, and education professionals.
ACCESSIBILITY
Our Pan-Disability Digital Accessibility Group worked with us to ensure the tool is as accessible as possible for individuals with disabilities and/or specific diagnoses.
COMPLIANCE
Extensive work has been done to make sure the tool is compliant with required data security standards and is specifically designed to align with NHS principles.
ONBOARDING
We have successfully onboarded several CAMHS providers across England to pilot the tool, before collating the results of the trial in 2027.
Aim of the EN-CAMHS Project
Our overarching aim is to improve the CAMHS referral process for CYP, their families/carers, as well as for health, education and CAMHS professionals who make referrals so that CYP receive the help they need as quickly as possible.
Research Questions
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1. Using the findings from our NIHR HS&DR funded ENCAMHS 1 project, can we develop a set of national standards for digital CAMHS referral processes?
2. Can we translate the prioritised features from ENCAMHS 1 of a digitally-led, intelligent CAMHS referral process into a usable, acceptable and widely accessible platform that is nationally standardised, locally adaptable and sustainable?
3. Can we address concerns about digital exclusion and other identified health inequalities through the newly developed CAMHS referral mechanisms?
Key Objectives
1. To develop national standards for digital referrals into CAMHS that have sufficient flexibility to support the diversity of CAMHS configurations locally and regionally
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2. To co-develop with key stakeholders a standards-compliant digital CAMHS referral tool that maximises the use of digital technologies to support inclusion (e.g. translation support, text-to-speech, culturally-relevant service information and imagery)
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3. To implement, test and refine the newly developed standards and digital tool in 5-8 CAMHS providers, with CAMHS sites purposively selected for diverse contextual characteristics
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4. To develop a blueprint for implementation of the new referral process at CAMHS
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5. To develop a robust sustainability plan so that the platforms developed through the funding remain relevant, usable and useful beyond the lifetime of this grant funding
Impact and Dissemination
We are developing a standardised, evaluated and flexible CAMHS referral tool, associated technical standards and an implementation blueprint for CAMHS that can enhance the referral process for diverse CAMHS configurations.
All of the outputs will be extensively co-developed with key CAMHS stakeholders, including young people and their families. Our confirmed collaborators, including our key referrers (GPs, schools), YP partners (CAMHS.Digital), parents/families partners (CALM Connections), third sector collaborators (MQ Mental Health; 42nd Street), CAMHS providers, and national/regional strategic leads for CYP mental health, will ensure our outputs are shared widely.
Stakeholder testimonies
We continue to work with a Young People's Advisory Group, Pan-Disability Digital Accessibility Advisory Group and Parent's and Carers Advisory Group to co-develop our EN-CAMHS 2 referral tool.
“The EN-CAMHS 2 Advisory Group felt important because it gave people close to the issue a genuine voice in shaping a new CAMHS referral tool, rather than decisions being made isolated from lived experience.”
Hannah
EN-CAMHS Young People’s Advisory Group member
"This type of work is so important so that people can access digital resources no matter what barriers they may face in everyday life! I really hope that my contributions to the project will help people with a visual impairment like mine to be able to access the digital tools in the future."
Sam
EN-CAMHS Pan-Disability Digital Accessibility Group member
“As a young person myself, I particularly enjoy when I get to interact with other young people for this purpose. It feels good to create a comfortable, non-judgmental environment and make everyone's contribution feel valuable.”
Anam
EN-CAMHS Young People’s Advisory Group member
