We support children and young people up until their 18th birthday who have a family doctor (GP) in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Most children and young people will find the support they need from one of our partner services, including Off The Record, Kooth, Creative Youth Network.
Through CAMHS, there are two services working in the community: Mental Health Support Teams in Schools, and Primary Mental Health Specialists who work in schools and social care children’s services.
There are many reasons why a child or young person might need a referral to CAMHS. Please see our referral guidance document at the top right of this page. We have also developed a referral guidance tool below with general themes to indicate when a child or young person might benefit from a referral.
CAMHS currently only accepts referrals from certain professional groups which allows us to keep referrals consistent. We can accept referrals from:
- schools - teachers, counsellors, school health nurses
- GPs
- social workers
- Families Plus, Families in Focus
- community paediatricians
- Off The Record (OTR) staff
We will accept referrals from professionals listed above which allows us to keep a high consistency of referrals and means we see the right people at the right time. If you are unsure who to go to, we would recommend speaking to the child or young person’s family doctor (GP) in the first instance.
We are currently developing a new system that will allow children, young people, their families and carers to refer to all CAMHS services. Please check this page for further updates on when our new system will be in place.
For all children and young people who have a GP in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, please complete a referral form available here in the "making a referral" section. There is also guidance on writing a referral available here.
Alternatively if you are making a referral for a child and young person with an Eating Disorder, please find guidance and referral form here.
For most professionals you can get mental health advice about your child or young person via their GP, school health nurse, paediatrician or social worker. We also have Mental Health Support Teams in Schools and Primary Mental Health Specialist in Schools and social care teams.
In Bristol and South Gloucestershire we have a service for GPs and healthcare professionals to email for advice. Emails must come from an NHS email account and must relate to Bristol or South Gloucestershire child or young person.
The email address is - awp
We hope to have a similar service for other professionals in the future.
On our conditions overview page, we have advice and resources to help with a range of difficulties, including stress, low mood and depression. If you have tried these services and things are continuing to be difficult, it may be that you need a CAMHS referral.