A virtual tour around Red Kite View our new CYPMHS unit

Take a virtual tour around Red Kite View – the new West Yorkshire Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Inpatient Unit

Planning was approved in December 2019 for a new CAMHS unit to be built on our St Mary’s Hospital site in Armley.  The new unit will include 22 inpatient beds and much needed improvements and facilities for children and young people across West Yorkshire. This will include a range of spacious and therapeutic areas, including a multi-purpose activity room, educational facilities, a family visiting room, courtyards and a green communal space for service users and staff.

The plans for the new unit were developed with young people and their families, and will deliver a high quality environment and the best possible care for young people.

The Unit is a joint venture between Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust (LCH) and Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT). It will replace the current in-patient CAMHS base in the Grade II listed Little Woodhouse Hall and will open in December 2021.

Nature inspired name revealed

At the end of December 2020, and following consultation with residents at York’s Mill Lodge, Leeds’ Little Woodhouse Hall, and Youth Board members, the name of the CAMHS unit will be – Red Kite View.

The Kite is a bird that is well-established in West Yorkshire, and it can also be something fun that you fly in the sky. The name lends itself well to further naming of the two wards at the unit, as well as a theme for the internal artwork, so Board members felt this name would appeal to young people across different ages.

You can watch a video “fly-through” virtual tour of how the new unit will look below, along with a quick slideshow of artists impressions:

Latest artists impressions

It’s a huge and important step forward in the region’s mental health services and will mean that children and young people can get the care they need close to home. At the moment, many of them have to be placed where beds are available and this can be many miles from home and their loved ones which can hinder some young people’s progress and recovery.

The service will support young people experiencing significant psychiatric, psychological or emotional problems that are causing them interpersonal, educational and social functioning problems. The service team will work closely with community mental health teams and other services across West Yorkshire to supporting young peoples’ mental health including the NHS, local authorities and third sector providers.

Most young people will come to Red Kite View as informal residential patients. Some young people may need to be admitted under the Mental Health Act (1983) or subject to other court orders. Whatever the situation of the young person they will be offered assessment, treatment and support in one of our wards.  Both wards will offer light, modern facilities including spacious, comfortable and private en-suite bedrooms.

One ward will be our Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). This is a low stimulus, structured therapeutic environment with high levels of staff to ensure that the behaviours that the young person is presenting with can be assessed and supported.  Levels of physical, relational and procedural security on the PICU will be similar to those in low security inpatient CYPMHS.

The second ward is our general ward where we provide the same high standards of care without the need for enhanced physical or procedural security measures.

Red Kite View will also feature a range of therapy and activity spaces, educational facilities and welcoming areas in which families can visit including a number of safe outdoor spaces.  It will also host a young peoples’ health-based place of safety. This is a space for young people who are detained under Section 136/135 of the Mental Health Act (1983) where they can receive a mental health assessment with specialist health professionals, rather than be detained in police custody or go to A&E.