Service update

Last updated 24th November, 2020

We are experiencing some disruption to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services as a result of the impact of Coronavirus. Our priority is to minimise this as much as possible and to keep you updated and informed of any changes to service delivery.

If you are currently open to CAMHS or making a referral, please be aware of the following:

1. At present some of the appointments that we offer will be video appointments using Microsoft Teams. We are also able to offer face to face appointments in some circumstances and to help us to decide if we are able to do that we take into account the need and preferences of children, young people and their parent/carers. We are doing our best to be as flexible as possible.
2. You may need to wait longer than normal for your appointment. We will try to keep you updated about this. We are committed to continuing to offer all of our urgent and emergency clinical services.
3. Please follow the latest Public Health Guidelines relating to managing suspected or confirmed symptoms of Covid 19. The latest guidance can be found here: www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19

It is very important that you do not attend your appointment and instead contact us to reschedule if:

• You have been advised to self-isolate
• Or if you have experienced any of the symptoms of coronavirus within the last 14 days:

The main symptoms of coronavirus are:

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

6. Parents and carers of children/young people already being seen by CAMHS should use phone calls as the main way of communicating with us. Emails can also be used if your clinician has given their email address but please do not use this for any urgent matters.

For new referrals or referral enquiries, please avoid sending us paper referrals or correspondence. We can accept online referrals from professionals or children and young people. We also encourage professionals and parents/carers to phone us with referral queries.

7. Please visit our website for support with coping with Coronavirus: www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/camhs/

8. If you have a concern or question, please contact your local CAMHS team: www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/camhs/contacts/

Last updated: 24 February, 2021