Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Inpatient Unit at Mill Lodge
Mill Lodge is our Trust’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) inpatient unit for children and young people between 13 and 18 years of age.
Community Mental Health Survey 2023
Young people aged 16 and 17 years old are eligible to participate in the 2023 Community Mental Health Survey, we want to inform them and their carers about the survey and provide them with details of how they can opt out if they do not wish their contact details to be used for this purpose: 16-17-year-olds-leaflet – with LYPFT contact
The Patient and Carer Experience Team can be contacted if any young people want to opt out of the Community Mental Health Survey 2023.
Email address Patientexperience.lypft@nhs.net
Contact number: 0113 855 6840
Who is inpatient CAMHS for?
Many young people will experience difficult times when growing up. This can include emotional and behavioural problems which arise from a mental health condition and young people experiencing such issues are usually referred to a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, known as CAMHS.
Most young people with mental health issues are seen as outpatients by community CAMHS teams. However, if the problem is more severe and needs more intensive support then a referral to an inpatient team or unit – like Mill Lodge – may be appropriate.
An inpatient unit is like a hospital ward, though it is often a separate building in the community and the staff do not normally wear uniforms.
Most people who come to Mill Lodge are informal residential service users and some are admitted after being detained under the Mental Health Act (1993) or are subject to other court orders.
A virtual tour around Mill Lodge
Due to the pandemic we are currently unable to provide tours of Mill Lodge, however our inpatients have created this virtual tour to show you around and what you can expect when you’re referred to the service.
What to expect
Each young person and their family are encouraged to be actively involved in their own care and in the overall running of Mill Lodge. Young people have their own care plan, which they contribute to. Families are invited to meet with team members to talk about all aspects of the service.
The team at Mill Lodge have worked with our service users to create the video below which offers information for young people about what to expect when being referred to the service. You can also find out more about the creation of the video.
Download a transcript of the Inpatient CAMHS video
Resources
Full details of what to expect as a service user or a friend or family member of a service user at Mill Lodge can be found in our downloadable information packs:
- Download our service user and carer information pack
- Download our service user and carer information pack for service users with eating disorders
- Download information for moving from the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service to the Adult ADHD service
Visiting hours
We try to be flexible with visiting times as we understand that some families will have other commitments and longer travel times.
Visiting is open from 5.30pm-8pm Monday-Friday and can be agreed for earlier in the day so long as this does not interfere with the young persons therapeutic timetable.
During weekends and Bank Holidays visiting is from 9am-8pm, excluding meal times.
For safety, it is requested that visitors sign in and out when they arrive and leave the unit.
All visitors under the age of 16 have to attend the ward with an adult.
During weekends and bank holidays visiting is from 10am – 7.45pm, excluding meal times (unless family members have been asked to attend meals as part of a young person’s care).
Meal times are:
| Meal | Time |
| Breakfast | 8.30am |
| Break | 10.30am |
| Lunch | 12 noon |
| Break | 3pm |
| Evening meal | 5pm |
| Supper | 8.45pm |
Keyworker Service - Humber and North Yorkshire
The Humber and North Yorkshire Keyworker Service supports children and young people with a learning disability and/or who are autistic, with the most complex needs and are inpatients in, or at risk of being admitted to, a mental health inpatient unit.
Keyworkers work with children and young people, and their families, to get the right support at the right time. They will make sure that all the local services work together to meet the needs of the children and young people in a holistic and joined-up way.
For further information please watch this video and visit the Humber and North Yorkshire Keyworker Service webpage.
Referrals
Young people are usually referred into our inpatient service when they require more intensive support than can be provided through a community child and adolescent mental health service (community CAMHS) and referrals can only be taken from community CAMHS.
A young person cannot be self-referred to our service. If a young person or their family/carers feels that they need inpatient care, they need to approach their local community CAMHS team via their GP.
The decision to admit a young person to Mill Lodge is made after the young person and their family/carers have visited and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of admission. Parents maintain full parental rights and responsibilities throughout the admission unless the young person is detained under the Mental Health Act (1983) or a court order affects those rights and responsibilities.
Both the young person and their family/carers will be expected to participate in a discharge process from day one of admission. This will include structured home leaves, with the first home leave taking place during their first week at Mill Lodge and these increasing in frequency towards discharge.
Feedback from young people has shown how important home visits were for them and how these helped them to maintain their links to the community and have a sense of normalcy in their life.
We ask all young people staying at Mill Lodge to take responsibility for their own behaviour and to be conscious of how their actions can affect themselves and others.
Information for professionals making a referral
Information for professionals making a referral to Mill Lodge Inpatient CAMHS is available in the professionals section below.
Information for professionals
Mill Lodge is a regional/national unit and we accept referrals in Yorkshire and the Humber as well as national referrals from across England and Wales.
In terms of national referrals, ties with community teams, schools, social care and the practicalities surrounding family work will take precedence in weighing up the pros and cons of admission. Our decision on whether to accept the referral will be based on what is in the best interests of the young person and their family when considering all these factors.
A clinical decision and feedback will be given upon receipt of a referral.
Referral process for professionals
Referrals into our service must be made by a member of a community CAMHS team and endorsed by a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist.
The process follows the standard NHS England procedure:
- A member of a community CAHMS team must complete NHS England’s ‘referral form 1’ and submit it to milllodgereferrals.lypft@nhs.net* during the hours of 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday. This referral form is available from your area NHS England case manager.
- To make a referral out-of-hours, please call the York District Hospital switchboard on 01904 631313 and ask to speak to the on-call consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist. The consultant will then liaise with Mill Lodge regarding the appropriateness of the referral and arrange admission if this is agreed to be the best course of action.
- Depending on both the urgency of the referral and the clinical acuity in the ward, staff will discuss an appropriate time and date for admission over a phone call or email.
If you have any queries whilst making a referral, please do not hesitate to contact Mill Lodge on 01904 294050 to speak to a clinician.
* Please be aware any information sent via email that isn’t from a secure email address such as an nhs.net address is at risk and as such should be encrypted.
You can find out more about MS-Office document encryption in the appendices of our Trust’s Safe Haven Guidance.
Visit our ‘how we use information about you’ page for more information and a copy of this guidance.
Student placement and volunteering opportunities
Our Trust is a teaching trust and Mill Lodge is part of our wider teaching and research framework. As a result the unit can offer nursing, medical, psychology and occupational therapy student training opportunities.
If you would like to find out more about student placement opportunities at Mill Lodge, please call 01904 294050 and ask to speak to the ward manager.
You can find out more about a career at our Trust by visiting our careers pages.
We also work closely with volunteers at Mill Lodge, for more information about volunteering at our Trust please visit our volunteering page.
Research
The team at Mill Lodge are currently contributing to the following research project:
- Development of an inpatient risk assessment tool
This is a survey based on the admission referral forms of young people referred to our CAMHS inpatient unit.The study looks at what risks may increase on admission, how these are being considered and how the referring team come to a decision that these risks do not outweigh the benefits of admission.This research is being led by Dr Thevarajan, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Lead Clinician at Mill Lodge.
More information on research and development at our Trust can be found by visiting our research pages.
Get in touch
Our CAMHS Inpatient Unit is based at Mill Lodge in York and can be contacted on 01904 294050.
Lines are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.