Crisis and Home Treatment Service (CAHTS)

What is CAHTS?

We are a multidisciplinary team that work with children and young people under the age of 18 who are experiencing a mental health crisis or who require intensive home treatment.

We are part of CAMHS and work alongside the local CAMHS teams in Bath and NE Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW) providing an extra layer of care when needed.

We also provide support to the young person’s parents or carers.

Crisis Support

We offer crisis support to young people who are:

• Being considered for admission to a mental health inpatient unit
• At risk of immediate and significant self-harm
• In acute psychological or emotional distress that is causing them to not be able to go about their daily activities, such as going to school or looking after themselves

This type of intervention can last for up to 6 weeks and is likely to involve multiple contacts per week.

Intensive Home Treatment

Intensive home treatment can be offered to young people who are already open to CAMHS but need a more intensive intervention to support their mental health and prevent things from worsening or needing a hospital admission.

This type of intervention can last for up to 12 weeks and is likely to involve multiple contacts per week.

Step Down From Inpatient Care

We offer an intensive package of support to young people leaving inpatient settings to help them adjust back into life in the community.

This type of intervention can last for up to 6 weeks and is likely to involve multiple contacts per week.

Who we are

Our team includes: Psychologists, Family Therapists, Senior Mental Health Practitioners and Mental Health Practitioners (who could be Nurses, Social Workers or Occupational Therapists) and Mental Health Support workers and Advanced Support workers.

We work flexibly with young people and their families and can provide face-to-face appointments at home, in school or in the community.