Positive behaviour, Autism, Learning disability, Mental health Service

Why haven’t I been accepted?

Sometimes, referrals are not appropriate for PALMS and therefore, we are unable to accept them.

Some of the reasons we do not accept referrals include:

·  The child or young person has no formal diagnosis of ASD and /or LD (this includes no referral for a diagnosis of ASD to the appropriate service)

·  Request for primary ASD assessment

·  No consent from parent / carer to the referral

·  Difficulties occur predominantly in the school setting and not in the home setting and / or the key reasons for the concern is difficulties experienced in school

·  The sole reason for referral is to seek long term support with medication and or and / or medication review

·  Reasonable adjustments could be made in mainstream CAMHS

·  Community services have yet to be accessed

·  Young person is over 19

·  Young person may live in Hertfordshire but is not registered with a Hertfordshire GP

Please note that this list is not exhaustive.

We understand that it can be difficult for families when their referral is not accepted. When we are unable to accept, the Triage Team will write back to the referrer, copying in the family and the GP, informing them of the decision and signpost them to support that may be more appropriate to address the concerns outlined in the referral.

The PALMS Triage Team are more than happy to receive further information to support a referral that has not be accepted and will review the referral in light of this and make the most appropriate decision from this.

Some of the support we may signpost to families to includes:

·  Single Point of Access (SPA) for referrals that would be best met by CAMHS services including CAMHS clinics or Step2.

·  Community Paediatrics or Herts CCG’s for Autism assessments (dependant on age)

·  Hertfordshire Children’s Services when there is significant risk to the young person

·  Counselling in Schools, The Integrated Services for Learning (ISL) or the Mentor scheme when the difficulties are presenting in the school setting

·  Other community services such as Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, School Nursing and Health visiting

·  Support services such as National Autistic Society, Families in Focus, ADD-Vance, KIDS HUB, Carers in Herts.

Please note that this list is not exhaustive. For contact details for these services and other useful organisations, please see our Useful Information section of the website.

Chair: Declan O’Farrell Chief Executive: David Law

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