Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) or Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) are designed in such a way that they cater specifically to young people. CAMHS is considered a distinct discipline as these patients have specific needs. The function of CAMHS teams is to provide specialist mental health services for patients aged 18 years or younger who have moderate to severe mental health problems, requiring specialised multidisciplinary input. It is currently recommended that patients of 17 years and above have a “transition plan” in place if it is planned for them to move to adult services, and while not all patients will need a transition plan, they must be assessed for it. Joint work between CAMHS and Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS) should also be considered in the initial weeks of handover.
Hypothesis: There is a quantifiable drop off in attendance to psychiatric services when patients transition from CAMHS to AMHS.
Aims: To quantify the number of psychiatric patients who transition from child and adolescent to adult psychiatric services in a three-year period in the South Galway CAMHS catchment area, and their subsequent level of attendance or non-attendance at AMHS.
Methods: Following ethical approval, we will identify patients who turned 18 in the years 2015 – 2017 in the South Galway CAMHS catchment area. We will ascertain the number who are referred to AMHS. We will investigate their subsequent attendance or non-attendance at adult services, and the number who remain engaged as indicated after 12 months.
