Waiting times for accessing support

Waiting times for community Children  and Young People's Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) 

It can be difficult waiting for support having been referred to CYPMHS. We are committed to seeing children and young people as soon as possible and strive to keep our waiting times as low as possible, however these can depend on the current demand for services and staffing levels. We aim to provide open and clear information about waiting times for each of the services you may be waiting to access. The following detail explains average waiting times from referral to initial assessment and then to treatment.

Please note: these are average waits and therefore you may find yourself seen sooner or slightly longer than estimated. Several factors can influence how long you may wait to be seen, and cases are triaged to identify anyone who may be at the highest risk and therefore require an appointment sooner. 

Wirral CYPMHS

Within Wirral CYPMHS, all referrals are screened by Wirral Access Team - the assessment service that receives the referrals and is the first point of contact with CYPMHS. The Wirral Access Team will also offer an assessment appointment, which is called a Choice Assessment.  These wait times reflect the average time from referral to the first meaningful contact (ie assessment, either by telephone, video or face-to-face).   As these times are averages, you may be seen sooner or later than the times given.

The average wait in weeks for a Choice Assessment with Wirral CYPMHS is:

At your Choice Assessment, you will decide with the CYPMHS staff what happens next. One option is therapy or intervention, which we call a Partnership Appointment. These wait times reflect the average time from assessment to the first partnership / intervention.

The average wait in weeks for a Partnership Appointment in Wirral is:

Cheshire CYMPHS

In Cheshire CYPMH all referrals are screen by the Children and Young People's Access Hub.

The hub will call you within a few days to discuss the referral with you, where they will take further information and agree next steps with you. This could be signposting to one of four 0-18 teams (depending on the area of Cheshire you live in):

• West Cheshire (Chester)
• Central Cheshire / Vale Royal (Winsford)
• South Cheshire (Crewe)
• East Cheshire (Macclesfield)

The 0-18 team will offer you a Choice Assessment. These wait times reflect the average time from referral to the first meaningful contact (I.e., assessment, either by telephone, video or face to face).  As these times are averages you may be seen sooner or later than the times given.

The average wait in weeks for a Choice Assessment in Cheshire is:

At your Choice Assessment, you will decide with the CYPMHS staff what happens next. One option is therapy or intervention, which we call a Partnership Appointment. These wait times reflect the average time from assessment to the first partnership / intervention.

The average wait in weeks for a Partnership Appointment in Cheshire is:

What does is a Choice Assessment?

A Choice Assessment appointment is the first appointment you will have with Cheshire or Wirral CYPMHS,  where we will talk about you and how you are feeling. One or two members of the team will ask questions and take some notes and you will decide together whether CYPMHS is the best service to help you right now. We usually ask to speak with the young person by themselves at some point during the Choice Assessment.

What is a Partnership Appointment?

If we decide together that CYPMHS can help you, you will be offered a series of Partnership Appointments. A Partnership Appointment is a set of sessions of therapy with a CYPMHS worker. It is called Partnership because the CYPMHS worker, along with you and your family will work together to bring about the changes you need. Partnership Appointments can be group or individual based.

Neurodevelopmental services

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership (CWP) is commissioned to provide neurodevelopmental assessments across some of our footprint.

Please note these are average waits and therefore you may find yourself seen sooner or slightly longer than estimated. Several factors can influence how long you may wait to be seen, and cases are triaged to determine those who may be most at risk and may require sooner appointments.

Wirral

In Wirral, CWP is commissioned to assess young people for autistic spectrum condition (ASC) up to the age of 18 years old.

Please note that this is an assessment and diagnostic service only (other non-CWP services may be commissioned to provide support post-assessment / diagnosis).

The wait in months in Wirral for the assessment and diagnostic appointment for ASC is*:

*Based on the NHS England draft guidance for reporting on wait times. The current Wirral neurodevelopmental waiting times would not exceed 12 weeks, as the clock stop is at the start of assessment process. This is currently happening within a 12 week timeframe.

Cheshire

In Cheshire, historically different NHS organisations have been commissioned to assess different neurodevelopmental conditions.

West Cheshire

In Cheshire West, CWP services are commissioned to work on autistic spectrum condition for people age 11 to 18.

Please note that this is an assessment and diagnostic service only (other non-CWP services may be commissioned to provide support post-assessment / diagnosis).

The wait in months in West Cheshire for the assessment and diagnostic appointment for ASC is:

Central Cheshire

Central Cheshire (South Cheshire / Vale Royal): CWP is not commissioned to provide neurodevelopmental assessment / diagnostic services in this area.

East Cheshire

In East Cheshire, CWP is commissioned to assess young people for autistic spectrum condition (ASC) up to the age of 18 years.

The wait in months in East Cheshire for the assessment and diagnostic appointment for ASC is:

Please note that this is an assessment and diagnostic service only (other non-CWP services may be commissioned to provide support post-assessment / diagnosis).

In East Cheshire CWP is commissioned to provide diagnostic assessments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) up to the age of 16 years.

The wait in months in East Cheshire for the assessment and diagnostic appointment for ADHD is: