The Wirral Access team offers a single point of access to Children and Young People's Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) - formerly known as CAMHS - for children and young people presenting with a range of mental health difficulties.

We accept requests for help from schools, GPs, social care, families, and young people through completion of the 'request for help' form. All requests for help are discussed within the service to consider what the best way forward may be. If CYPMHS appear to be the most appropriate service to meet the young person's needs then a Choice appointment will be offered.

The Choice appointment

During the Choice appointment, a Mental Health Practitioner will work with the family and young person to help them to share a range of information and to agree a plan based on the assessment of need; this may be an agreement for further work together within Wirral CYPMHS or a signpost to other agencies for support, if this is felt to be more appropriate based on the young person's current circumstances. You can read more about the Choice appointment below.

Training

The Wirral Access team also offer support and training to schools and colleges around intervention, prevention and promoting positive mental health and wellbeing.

Request help for you or someone you care for

The Wirral Access team also offer support and training to schools and colleges around intervention, prevention and promoting positive mental health and wellbeing.

Secondary schools

We visit every school on the borough to assess, support and discuss specific young people with schools and families who are both pre-referral or are awaiting 'Choice' appointment. Each school has a CYPMHS mental health worker attached, who will support schools regarding the whole school approach, taking into account the eight principles: 

  • Leadership and management
  • School ethos and environment
  • Curriculum, teaching and learning
  • The student voice
  • Staff development, health and wellbeing
  • Identifying need and monitoring impact
  • Working with parents/carers
  • Targeted support

Bespoke training

We offer tailored training to meet the needs of local schools when specific issues are identified and fed back through school meetings.

Mental health first aid 

We provide mental health first aid training to staff across Wirral. This one or two-day training package looks at different aspects of mental health including: low mood, anxiety, self-harm, psychosis, suicide prevention and eating disorders. The aim is to help staff feel more confident in exploring these issues with young people and where to signpost if additional support is needed.

As part of the peer education project, the 2-day training is delivered to Year 11's, who then develop their own presentation to support peers within the school along with the support of a school mentor.

Next Step

Next Step is a therapeutic tool to help young people engage and to establish any goals they may have. Training is offered to all school staff to help support the young person within the school environment. Please visit our dedicated Next Step website for more information.

 

Tel: 0300 303 3157    Monday to Friday 9.00am-5.00pm 

Telephone

0300 303 3157

Address

Maple House
3 Cleveland Street
Birkenhead
CH41 6ND