Referrals 15/16 22/23 23/24 and any changes to policy or services,

Reference: 23-24435

Date response sent: 16/02/2024

Details of enquiry

1. The number of referrals made to each of the below services/through each of the below pathways* during 2015/16, 2022/23 and 2023/24 to date. Please break these figures down by the number of referrals received, the number of referrals accepted and the number of referrals responded to with advice and guidance or support, with the recorded reason for declination. Please provide earliest figures from 2015/16 and reasoning if you do not have 2015/16 figures available.
2. Details of any policy change regarding altered thresholds for referrals, altered access to pathways or triage systems and documentation outlining the change (and reasoning of the change if available) as regards referrals to each of the below services/pathways.

*Services/Pathways (split into adult/CYP where applicable)

a. CAMHS

b. Eating disorders

c. Autism

d. ADHD

e. Crisis team

f. Memory

g. Gender

h. Talking therapies/IAPTs

Response sent

Number of Referrals per Service Line

Notes:

1. CAMHS

In 2022/23 Camden became a trailblazer site for CAMHS . – to achieve a 4 week wait for treatment in the borough of Camden. There were two parts to this 1.

a. creation of MHST (Mental Health Support teams) to provide more interventions for children in school and reduce the number of children needing to attend CAMHS

b. The creation of a clinical intake team, providing advice and signposting as well as conducting information gathering at the point of referral.
The work of this team is aimed at ensuring families are promptly directed to the most appropriate services to meet their needs and that this is done as a shared decision.

2. Eating Disorders:

No dedicated Service for adults, though we might work with adults’ eating problems as part of an overall mental health presentation.

Since June 2022 a New EDAS team (Eating Difficulties and Avoidant Restrictive Food intake Disorders) – please note that this is not an Eating Disorders Service, it offers support to young people across North Central London.

The team were commissioned during the pandemic, when eating difficulty services faced large increases in referrals. The team focuses on providing early intervention support and care in order to prevent the progression of eating difficulties.  This is a community based service and for your people who do not meet the clinical threshold for specialist hospital based interventions.

3. Autism Referrals:

From April 2017 the Trust ceased to accept referrals for diagnosis of suspected Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the over 18 yrs age group, though working with ASD as part of an overall mental health presentation would continue.

The ASD diagnostic service is generally for 12- 18 years age group.

If a young person reaches 18 years of age while awaiting an ASD assessment then we keep them open until the assessment is completed

If a young person reaches 18 years of age whilst in treatment,  they are able to continue their treatment with our service until they are 25 years old.

4. GIC (Adults Gender):

April 2017, The Gender Identity Clinic (GIC transferred from the West London NHS Mental Health Trust to the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust

Mitigating Waiting Times for the GIC (Gender Identity Clinic) adults service.

As part of a waiting time reduction initiative, NHSE has been commissioning local GIC pilot clinics for initial 3-year periods, to receive some of the longest GIC waiters, subject to patient consent to transfer.  Each pilot clinic has to check patient’s correct catchment area., contact them, explain the transfer option and gain their consent to transfer.  The Trust cannot accurately predict how waiting times for those referred today may be impacted by these and any other future service developments.  We advise patients to visit our website for information regarding current indicative waiting times which is regularly updated at Gender identity clinic (GIC) – Tavistock and Portman

We are currently dealing with 5 GIC pilot clinics; Sussex Gender Services, TransPlus, C-MAGIC, Indigo Gender Service, and East of England Gender Service.

5. GIDS (CYP Gender) GIDS (Gender Identity Development Service) – under 18s

GIDS is being decommissioned but remains open and continues to treat current patients, until it closes on 31 March 2024.

There was a phased transfer of the GIDS waiting list and new referrals to NHSE Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit (Arden and GEM CSU).  This transfer has now completed, and GIDS no longer has/manages a waiting list, though it continues to treat current patients.  We therefore can no longer confirm any waiting times.

• From 20 July 2021:, GIDS referrals from General Practitioners and other non-CAMHS/paediatric referrers were handled by Arden and GEM CSU on behalf of NHS England
• From October 2022 all new referrals from any referrer were redirected to Arden & GEM CSU.
• From 23 March 2023, The whole GIDS waiting list and all new referrals are being managed by Arden and GEM.

GIDS no longer holds or manages the waiting list for Children and Young People’s Gender Dysphoria Services.

• NHSE/I are the data controllers for the AGEM Referral Hub.  Should you wish to contact them directly to learn more about the referrals/waiting list that they hold, the relevant email address is contactus@nhs.net

6. Talking Therapies

We provide talking therapies for all our outpatient, psychological, services.  The services covered against this point relate to Adult Complex Mental Health Needs, and Memory, as CAMHS has been separately reported.

The London Borough of Camden had previously commissioned a primary care-based service called ‘Team Around the Practice’ that offered psychological therapies and social prescribing.  The service closed 31^st March 2020  due to a series of cuts in funding.

7. IAPT

We do not provide IAPT Services for adults.

Our Camden CAMHS Wellbeing Team work with children and families aged 4-18. We provide CBT and parent training interventions to parents and young people with mild to moderate anxiety, low mood or challenging behaviour. We work closely with their North and South Community Teams.

8. Crisis Team

The Trust does not have its own Crisis Team, we would sign post patients to their local geographically based crisis team.