Cheshire Learning Disability Services

We are the Learning Disability Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (LD CAMHS).

We help children and young people aged 0 to 18 years old.

They must have a Severe or Profound Learning Disability and behavioural difficulties.

These behaviours might mean the child is trying to tell us something. For example, they might:

• Want attention
• Want something or want to avoid something
• Feel unwell, sad, or scared

We work with families to understand these behaviours and help with them.

We also help younger children (from birth to school age) who have global developmental delay, behaviour problems, or sleep problems. This is only in these areas: Ellesmere Port, Chester, Macclesfield, Poynton, Wilmslow, Knutsford and Sandbach.

Who is the service for?

We help young people who:

• Have a Severe Learning Disability
• Had this diagnosed when they were born or as a small child

These young people may:

• Have little or no speech
• Find it hard to learn new things
• Need help to eat, dress, wash, or stay safe
• Struggle with social skills
• Need help all their life

They will usually have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that says they need a lot of help with learning.

They also need an adult with them at all times when out in the community.

How to access the service

We accept referrals (requests for help) from:

• Parents and carers
• Professionals like teachers, social workers, or doctors

You can contact us:

• By phone
• By email
• By post

You will need to fill in a referral form. We will also ask for:

• A copy of the EHCP
• A letter from a children’s doctor (paediatrician)
• Any other helpful reports

What will happen at your first appointment

We will contact you to book the first appointment. It can be:

• At a clinic
• Online (video call)

You will be sent:

• A letter (if in clinic) with directions
• A consent form
• A short form to tell us more about your child

The appointment will be with 1 or 2 nurses and will last about 1 hour.

You do not need to bring your child to the first appointment.

We will:

• Ask questions about your child
• Talk about the difficulties
• Think together about what support you need
• Maybe suggest other services

At the end, we will tell you the next steps.

The team accept referrals for young people who have a diagnosis of a severe learning disability and behavioural difficulties.

A young person who has a severe learning disability (diagnosed at birth or in early childhood) will:

• Have little or no speech
• Find it very difficult to learn new skills
• Need support with daily activities such as dressing, washing, eating and keeping safe
• Have difficulties with social skills
• Need life-long support

The young person will have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) that states they have significant needs in the cognition and learning section of the plan. Young people with severe learning disabilities will require at least one-to-one adult supervision in the community at all times. 

Behavioural difficulties are a form of communication and may indicate that there is an unmet need. Behaviours are communicative and can occur to obtain attention, obtain something / access to an activity or to get out of an activity or avoid something. Children with communication and language problems are more likely to use inappropriate behaviours to get their message across. Other factors that may contribute towards behavioural difficulties include a physical health problem, a mental health difficulty or a traumatic experience in their life.

The team also provides support to young people from birth to entry into school who have a diagnosis of global developmental delay who display behavioural difficulties and or sleep problems. This is currently offered in Ellesmere Port, Chester, Macclesfield, Poynton, Wilmslow, Knutsford and Sandbach only.

Our aim is to try and understand the reasons for the child/young person’s behaviours and then develop strategies and ideas to help using a multi-agency approach (different organisations and professionals working together), we offer a flexible, person-centred way of working which may include:

• Goal-based interventions
• Utilising a Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) model

In Cheshire we offer adapted Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) models to address low mood and anxiety disorders when appropriate.

We offer parenting courses such as:

• Signposts for Building Better Behaviour
• Preventative Parenting Strategies – Understanding, Preventing and Managing Behaviour Difficulties
• Feelings Detectives
• Riding the Rapids
• Behavioural sleep assessments and interventions

Additional support:

• Advice sessions
• Consultations with professionals and other services

What doesn't the service offer?

This service does not offer diagnosis of learning disabilities.

This service does not offer diagnosis of ADHD.

Children and young people with a mild or moderate learning disability who also have a severe and enduring mental health difficulty can be seen in the 0–18 service, with reasonable adjustments made to support their needs.

The LD CAMHS team accepts referrals from parents and any other professionals involved with the young person.

The team accept referrals via phone, email and post, a referral form will need to be completed, please view our referral form or alternatively you can call the team.

The team will also request latest copies of the young person’s Education Health Care Plan, an up-to-date paediatric letter and any recent reports that may help the team to confirm eligibility for the service.

The team will contact you to arrange the first appointment, this can be at a clinic base or online. 

For clinic appointments you will be sent a confirmation letter with directions of where to go and for all appointments you will be sent a consent form, and a brief initial assessment form to complete and return to us.

The appointment will be with one or two of the nurses from the team and will last approximately an hour, you do not need to bring your child/young person to the appointment. 

At the appointment we will ask you more details about your child and their health, we will ask about the presenting difficulties and think together with you about the best type of support for these difficulties, this may involve signposting you to other services.   

At the end of the meeting we will let you know what the next steps will be.

• East Cheshire NHS Trust
• Countess of Chester Hospital Foundation Trust
• Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Please follow the links to information on sleep and challenging behaviour which may help.

On the behaviour page there are also links for general information and support resources.

For East and Central Cheshire the pages are:

Sleep

Behaviour

For West Cheshire the pages are:

Sleep

Behaviour

We are committed to STOMP (Stopping Over-Medication of People with a learning disability, autism or both) and STAMP (Supporting Treatment and Appropriate Medication in Paediatrics).

Our Pledge

We pledge to work in partnership with children, young people, families, carers, and the wider system to ensure that medication is used safely, appropriately, and only when it is clearly needed. We commit to:

• Prioritising non-pharmacological interventions (e.g. Positive Behaviour Support, environmental adaptations, psychological and systemic approaches) as first-line treatment for behaviours that challenge.

• Prescribing medication only when clinically indicated, evidence-based, and in the child or young person’s best interests.

• Ensuring informed, shared decision-making, using accessible communication and involving families and carers at every stage.

• Regularly reviewing all psychotropic medication, with clear treatment goals, outcome measures, and plans for dose reduction or stopping where appropriate.

• Avoiding medication being used as a substitute for care, support, or appropriate placement.

• Monitoring physical health, side effects, and wellbeing, with particular attention to long-term risks.

• Working collaboratively across health, education, and social care to provide holistic, joined-up support.

• Promoting transparency, learning, and continuous improvement in prescribing practice.

We believe every child and young person with a learning disability deserves the right support, at the right time, for the right reasons.

For more information on STOMP and STAMP please visit the NHS website here.

 Lyndsey - Team Co-Ordinator and Community Nurse

Three things about me:

1. I love spending time with my family.
2. I love listening and dancing to music.
3. I enjoy attending zumba and clubbercise classes.  

Jude - Community Nurse

Three things about me:

1. I love spending time with others.
2. I enjoy reading.
3. I like to spend time outdoors.

Sarah - Community Nurse

Three things about me:

1. I like to spend outdoors, I especially enjoy walking and running.
2. I have played in a brass band for over 35 years.
3. I enjoy listening to podcasts.

 Grace - Community Nurse

Three things about me:

1. I’m trilingual. I am able to speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
2. I love baking.
3. I like adventures with my family. 

Danielle - Community Nurse

Three things about me:

1. I love going on holidays.
2. I like to go to classic car shows with my family.
3. I love a good cup of tea.

Nicky - ​​​Advanced Support Worker

Rebecca - Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Three things about me

1. I love music and singing.
2. I do not like being cold.
3. I have a fun dog. I like running with her, but she is faster than me!

Sarah - Assistant Psychologist

Three things about me

1. I enjoy being outdoors and running.
2. I love animals and I have a cat called Max.
3. I relax by listening to music and I love seeing live bands!

 Louise - Student Nurse Associate

Three things about me:

1. I love spending time with my family.
2. I enjoy going on holidays to new places.
3. I love going out for meals.  

 Carol - Team Administrator

Three things about me:

1. I love spending time with my family.
2. I enjoy spending time with my dog, Freddie.
3. I like boxing.

Becky - Team Administrator

 Debbie - Medical Secretary/Team Administrator

Three things about me:

1. I’m a massive Gary Barlow & Take That fan.
2. I love going on holiday to the sun.
3. I love spending time with my family & friends.

Jill - Consultant Psychiatrist

Abbi - Occupational Therapist

Three things about me:

1. I have a cat called Ralph.
2. I like pasta.
3. I enjoy going on holiday.

 Jay - Student Nurse – soon to be qualified LD Nurse

Three things about me:

1. I enjoy going on road trips with my family in my spare time.
2. I love going to see live bands.
3. I love being in nature.

 Jenni - Team Co-Ordinator and Community Nurse

Three things about me:

1. I enjoy reading.
2. I practice yoga and mindfulness.
3. I love walking in the countryside. 

 Samantha (Sam) - Team Co-Ordinator, Community Nurse and Non-Medical Prescriber

Three things about me:

1. I have 2 dogs who love adventures.
2. During my annual leave I enjoy going camping.
3. I have recently done a Post Graduate Certificate in Neurodevelopmental Conditions.

 Kelly - Medical Secretary/Team Administrator

Three things about me:

1. I love going to the Theatre to watch Musicals.
2. I enjoy reading Detective novels – I can get through about 2 books per week!!
3. I love baking, in particular making chocolate brownies.

 Michelle - Community Nurse

Three things about me:

1. I love running, it's my biggest passion. 
2. I regularly go to the mountains in Wales.
3. My favourite food is pizza.

 Tammi - Assistant Practitioner

Three things about me

1. I have 3 dogs.
2. My favourite place is by the sea listening to the waves.
3. I love being in my garden surrounded by flowers.

 Jill - Consultant Psychiatrist

 Rebecca - Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Three things about me

1. I love music and singing.
2. I do not like being cold.
3. I have a fun dog. I like running with her, but she is faster than me!

 Julie  - Assistant Practitioner

Three things about me

1. I am an identical twin
2. Love going out in our campervan
3. Enjoy the outdoors  

Maya - Assistant Psychologist

Three things about me

1. I like walking in the countryside and doing yoga.
2. My favourite food is pizza.
3. I like watching football and my favourite team is Aston Villa.