Children and Young Peoples’ Mental Health Service (CYPMHS) inpatient unit for West Yorkshire
Welcome to Red Kite View – our Children and Young People’s Mental Health Inpatient Service (or CYPMHS). This is a specialist inpatient mental health service for children and young people aged 13 -18 and their families based across West Yorkshire.
Red Kite View opened in January 2022 and is based in Armley, Leeds. Our aim is to help young people stay closer to their own communities while they are cared for, with inpatients being no more than 25 miles from home while they receive treatment.
We work closely with the other CYPMHS (also known as CAMHS) teams across West Yorkshire to ensure that we provide the best possible joined-up treatment for young service users with complex mental health needs.
Red Kite View has been designed in partnership with clinicians and young people, who have contributed their ideas, hopes and aspirations for care at the new unit throughout a five-year period of planning and development of both the building and the clinical service.
Our Welcome to Red Kite View video
Before we admitted our first inpatients we managed to get into the building and produce this little video to give you a glimpse of what life is like at Red Kite View. All the people who appear in the video are staff and volunteers.
We have provided tailored information about Red Kite View on the other pages of this website.
If you’re looking for details about community-based children and young people’s mental health services across West Yorkshire, including how to refer to us at Red Kite View, here’s where you need to go:
For Leeds: Contact the MindMate Single Point of Access (SPA) on 0300 555 0324 during office hours. You can find more general information at www.mindmate.org.uk
For Bradford: Visit Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust’s website.
For Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield: Visit South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s website for a list of the CAMHS services they provide in the region.
Self referrals
We don’t accept self-referrals. We are a specialist NHS service and we only take referrals from community CYPMHS teams when a young person requires an inpatient admission. Please use the links above if you need information about young people’s mental health services in your area.
What to do in an emergency
If you or someone you know needs immediate medical help (for example if you are experiencing a mental health crisis) call 999. If you’re not sure what to do, visit 111.nhs.uk or call 111.
Our Service Principles – in brief
We are . . .
Young person-centred
We will ensure that young people are involved in their care planning and treatment. We will help young people to achieve independence and well-being, and will respect them. We work non-judgmentally with regard to a young person’s religious beliefs and culture. We are responsive to disability, gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, spiritual, cultural, religious, physical, and sensory needs.
Assessment and formulation led
Outcomes for young people are better in the community and an inpatient admission should be a last resort. Sometimes however, an admission is the only option, to provide safe and effective care. We will ensure that presenting problems are assessed comprehensively, a formulation is developed, and that clear recommendations are made for how care can be continued in the community when possible.
Psychologically driven
A psychological formulation explores the impact of the difficulties with which a young person presents. Young people will be supported to make changes in their lives such as managing behaviours and emotions while improving relationships and reducing unhelpful coping strategies.
Trauma informed
We consider how trauma is widespread and causal in the development of mental health problems. We are committed to reducing the use of restrictive interventions, prioritising trustworthiness and transparency. We develop collaborative relationships with young people and our strengths-based approach sees symptoms as understandable attempts to cope with trauma and its consequences.
Supportive of staff wellbeing and development
It is recognised that work in an inpatient CYPMH service is emotive and challenging and that staff need high quality and ongoing training, supervision and support. Staff will also have access to reflective practice that enables effective working, personal and professional development and which promotes staff wellbeing.
Systemic
The service will develop a holistic and systemic approach, recognising the impact of family, friends, community professionals and school in a young person’s experience and understanding that environment cannot be separated from a young person’s mental wellbeing.
Aware of the importance of families and carers
Care planning will involve families and carers as far as is appropriate. This will be integrated into the care planning and communication processes for the service. Families and carers will also be invited to influence the design, development, and delivery of the service.
Integrated
The inpatient service is one aspect of the CYPMHS pathway; it is necessary to consider the purpose of an inpatient admission in the context of the overall offer for children, young people and families. Inpatient admissions should be an extension of community work and not a separate intervention and the team will work closely with community services and partner agencies.
A learning organisation
Inpatient services work with small, complex populations. It is essential that we promote an understanding of how and why young people are referred and admitted. This will enable us to identify patterns, themes and anomalies which will inform future best practice.
The service will seek to develop opportunities for innovative practice based on our learning in a safe and constructive manner. Innovation will be a consistent consideration and clinical governance will provide a structure to ensure all developments are thoroughly considered in implementation and evaluation.
