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Care Opinion

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

Posted By absolutely wonderful

"Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service"

About: Carnarvon Mental Health Service

(as the patient),

Recently my child had an appointment with the CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) specialist at Carnarvon Health Campus. They were very friendly and professional, and quickly gained the trust of my young child who is struggling at the moment (due to living through some traumatic events) and quite vulnerable/on edge. The specialist validated their feelings and was able to give them some strategies while still making them feel like it was a casual friendly conversation.

While we were there, there was another patient (who I presume was under the care of the adult mental health team) who started yelling and it sounded like kicking the walls. It was loud and quite frightening. My child was instantly on alert and quite taken aback by this. The specialist was wonderful and helped to alleviate their fears and remind them that they were safe in the room, however it made me feel quite upset as a parent to know that my child was being exposed to yet another traumatic event.

I wonder if there was consideration about these types of situations when it was decided that CAMHS should be placed within the adult mental health area? It was a scary experience for my child, and I have been left feeling quite uneasy about the situation. I feel that CAMHS would be better placed in another area that would be less likely to have agitated adults yelling and being physically violent.

Overall I am impressed by the professionalism and empathy that the specialist has showed to my child, and my family.

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Responses

Response from Michele Young, REOC Lead, Executive Services, WACHS-Midwest 7 years ago
Michele Young
REOC Lead, Executive Services,
WACHS-Midwest

Submitted on 9/06/2017 at 5:47 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 12/06/2017 at 9:52 AM

picture of Michele Young

Dear Absolutely wonderful

Thank you so much for sharing your story and positive feedback around the care you and your child received. I am pleased to hear that the support you received has helped to make a difference.

WACHS Midwest aims to ensure all clients feel supported and receive high-quality care to meet their needs. WACHS Midwest Mental Health and Community Alcohol Drug Service provides mental health and alcohol and drug services to all age groups and employs specialist child and adolescent MH staff for people under the age of 18. The mental health service is conveniently co- located with a number of other services such as child and school health; allowing for better integration of mental health services with the rest of health.

I am sorry that you and your child were impacted by the behaviour of another client. This is a rare occurrence which is experienced by all age groups and in all health settings. Mental health and other health staff work hard to minimise the impact of such behaviours on other consumers but clearly, this was not achieved in this case. We are able to work with the rest of the centre to access other rooms that you can be seen in in the future.

I have discussed your story with Anne Steele, A/Regional Manager Mental Health and if you would like to discuss the concerns you have raised further you can contact her on 9956 1936. Alternatively, you can contact me on 9956 8695 or michele.young@health.wa.gov.au. Your call would be very welcome and can still be addressed anonymously if you wish.

I will be sure to pass your glowing feedback onto your clinician and the CAMHS team and let them know how much their work is appreciated. Feedback like yours helps us recognise where we do things well.

I wish you and your child all the best and thanks again for taking the time to write.

Regards,

Michele

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Response from Jeffrey Calver, Regional Director, Executive Services, WACHS- Midwest 7 years ago
Jeffrey Calver
Regional Director, Executive Services,
WACHS- Midwest

Submitted on 12/06/2017 at 12:20 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 1:21 PM

Dear absolutely wonderful

Thank you for taking the time to express how impressed you are with our staff. I have passed your compliment on to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service team.

It is always pleasing to hear when our patients feel well supported by our staff who really do work hard to provide high-quality care to all our patients and their families.

Staff encounter challenging situations and patients who have complex problems which at times results in difficult behaviour. You witnessed our staff showing how professional and compassionate they can be in these circumstances and it is lovely that you are recognising this on their behalf.

Through sharing your experience on Patient Opinion our staff and services are more widely acknowledged and I am very proud of their commitment to ensuring each patient is treated with respect and their individual needs are met. I am sorry that you and your child were impacted by the behaviour of another client. I have discussed your story with Anne Steele, A/Regional Manager Mental Health and if you would like to discuss the concerns you have raised further you can contact her on 9956 1936.

I wish you and your child all the best with your ongoing treatment and please don't hesitate to contact me if there is anything I can assist you with.

Thank you again for taking the time to get in touch – it is truly appreciated.

Kind regards

Jeff Calver

A/Regional Director WACHS- Midwest

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