Meet the team

The service consists of a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) who can deliver a range of evidence-based assessments, consultations and therapeutic interventions.

Clinical Team and Deputy Team Managers
  • Clinical Team Manager: Maria Bourbon (Registered Mental Health Nurse)
  • Deputy Team Manager: Liz Thomas (Clinical Specialist Nurse) & Laura Mackenzie (Specialist Mental Health Nurse)

Clinical Team and Deputy Team Managers role:

The managers support the team by ensuring that processes are in place to enable the smooth running of the service and that standards of care are adhered to. In addition, they are also responsible for processing referrals and prioritising resources according to need, as well as team and service development, and provide specialist neurodevelopmental knowledge to strategic multiagency frameworks.

The managers have a strong clinical background which ensures that this knowledge fuels all decision making.

Consultants
  • Dr Emma Ferguson (Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist)
  • Dr Frances Whitaker (Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist)
  • Dr Robert Chapman (Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist)
  • Dr Ini Okonna (Locum Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist)
  • Dr Sabeen Khan (Locum Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist)
  • Dr Francesca Bell (Locum Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist)
  • Dr Harjinder Gill (Consultant Community Paediatrician)

Consultants role within the team: Consultant Child Psychiatrists working in our team are medical doctors who will have a generic medical training and then completed further specialised training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry over a period of 6 years.

Their role is to provide:

1.  Developmental assessments whereby the physical health, mental health and developmental milestones of a child/ young person are incorporated to provide a comprehensive and integrated assessment and management.

2. Ongoing medical and therapeutic care for children with neurodevelopmental conditions.

3. Liaison to other services and agencies like school, social care and paediatric services.

You may also see a Trainee Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist; these members of our team will have completed their medical training and be working towards subspecialising in Psychiatry and are closely supervised by a Consultant Child and Adolescents Psychiatrist.

Psychologists
  • Dr James Stacey (Lead Clinical Psychologist)
  • Dr Joanne Barratt (Clinical Psychologist)
  • Dr Jennifer Chapman (Clinical Psychologist)
  • Dr Susan Wimshurst (Clinical Psychologist)

Psychologists role within the team:

Clinical Psychologists in our service provide psychological assessments, formulations, and individual, family, or group interventions to young people with neurodevelopmental difficulties (Autism, ADHD, Tic disorders) and associated mental health difficulties or challenging behaviour. They are often involved in the team’s neurodevelopmental assessments (assessments of Autism and ADHD) and may also provide cognitive assessments (assessments of young people’s overall intellectual functioning and/or cognitive profile). They work closely with their colleagues in the multi-disciplinary team to ensure that young people receive effective support. They also provide training and supervision.

Speech and Language Therapists (SLT)
  • Alison Hatton (Specialist Speech and Language Therapist)

Speech and Language Therapists role within the team: Language and communication is one of the biggest priorities for people with Autism. “SLT’s play a key role in differential diagnosis and developing language” (RCSLT; 2019, NICE guidelines; 2019). Within the team, SLT’s use their expertise in speech, language and social communication, playing a key role in the assessment process. They may also undertake language assessments to screen receptive (understanding) and expressive language (use of words/ sentences/ narratives), in order to offer advice to others on how best to communicate with a young person, referring on to the local speech and language therapy team for more detailed assessment and management if required.

Social Workers
  • Sarah Brown (Clinical Social Worker)
  • Cicely Arthur (Clinical Social Worker)
  • Tanya  Beechey (Clinical Social Worker)

Social Workers role within the team are to provide:

  • Children and families social work expertise into the CAMHS tier 3 teams
  • Carry an agreed limited caseload of NDC patients who also have specific identified social care needs and might otherwise have to go to social care in addition to the NDC pathway
  • Interface with locality social care teams to optimise care coordination for children known to both agencies
  • Provide specialist advice and guidance for parents, carers and additional professionals
  • As part of the Multi-disciplinary team we are involved in the assessment and diagnosis of neuro developmental conditions
Senior Mental Health Practitioners
  • Danielle Prpa (Senior Mental Health Practitioner)
  • Isabel Hancock (Senior Mental Health Practitioner)

Senior Mental Health Practitioners role within the team:

These clinicians can be mental health nurses, occupational therapists or social workers. Their role includes care co-ordination (liaising between different agencies to support a young person or family), providing specialist interventions for young people or parents and being part of the assessment team.

Non-Medical Prescribers
  • Elwira Lubos (Clinical Nurse Specialist/ Nurse Prescriber)
  • Gavin Partridge (Clinical Nurse Specialist/Nurse Prescriber)
  • Jennifer Hawkins (Clinical Nurse Specialist/Nurse Prescriber)
  • Alison Hearnden (Trainee Non-Medical Prescriber)

Non-Medical Prescribers role within the team:

“As a Non-Medical Prescriber we are mostly responsible for running ADHD clinics to review and respond to children taking stimulant medication. It is important that children tolerate medication well and remain healthy while taking it. Therefore, we place importance on monitoring children’s physical health during these reviews. We also see other children with Autism who take mental health medication and support the wider team and families with medication queries.”   Gavin

Clinical Support Workers
  • Rebecca Norridge (Clinical Support Worker)

Clinical Support Workers role within the team:

Supporting families with a diagnosis of Autism and/or ADHD by providing interventions of psycho-education and strategies to help parents to support their child or young person and manage their difficulties.  Clinical support workers also carry out QB Test Assessments on inattention activity.

Administrators
  • Oliver Smith (Office Manager)
  • Sarah Weaving
  • Eleni Liati
  • Daisy Quinn

Admin’s role within the team:

The admin team is the front door to our service, screening all calls and receiving children and young people and their families / carers to the building.

Often underestimated, the admin team plays a crucial role in ensuring that the different parts of the process work appropriately, so that the journey is seamless.

Their role includes tasks as diverse as ensuring that the correct information is sent out to patients / other professionals at the right time, there is co-ordination of appointments between clinicians, send appointment letters / review and diagnostic reports, book rooms, update systems, etc, etc.

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Page last reviewed: 7 September, 2021