Bee U is the emotional health and wellbeing service for people, up to the age of 25, living in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.The BeeU Access Team is a 24/7 Referral Service into BeeU Children’s and Family Mental Health Services (previously known as CAMHS) for emotional mental health.
At present, young people are referred into our service by a professional who knows what BeeU offers, and knows the young person.
We accept referrals from these types of professionals:
- GPs
- Social Workers
- Health Visitors
- School Professionals
- Paediatricians / Hospital Doctors
- Paediatric Occupational Therapists
- School Nurses
- Voluntary services
The most common way of getting support in BeeU is by visiting your GP and discussing a referral with them. If you have any questions about this, or you are a referrer considering referring a young person, you are welcome to talk to our BeeU Access Team for emotional and mental health.
Unfortunately, we don’t accept self-referrals from young people or families.
Referrals can be sent by post, and / or emailed directly to 025spa@mpft.nhs.uk (routine) or via phone 0808 196 4501 (option 1) for urgent referrals.
Information about referrals for GPs
Whose consent is needed?
When making a referral you need to consider:
- Have you met, discussed and agreed with parents, carers and referred child?
- Any referral to our Bee U service requires consent so if the young person is under 18 we require consent from a parent, or carer who has parental responsibility to care safely for them until they are 18 years old.
- In addition, we will seek consent from self-consenting young people 14 years old who have emotional and intellectual capacity to make an informed decision.
- However, if the young person presents with risk to self, or severe mental health symptoms, parent / carer / guardian (whoever has parental responsibility) is required to consent to the referral.
- All referrals for young people aged 16 years and older requires consent from the young person.
What is the age range we are accepting referrals for?
BeeU services will accept referrals relating to children and young people up until their 18th birthday.
All young people who have been referred and accepted for treatment before their 18th birthday may continue with the support offered via BeeU post 18; BeeU can work with young people up until the age of 25 years old.
Any new referrals coming into the Beeu Access Team for young people who are 18+ will be sent to Adult Access Team.
What does the referral process look like?
The Access service is a telephone based service which manages all children and adult mental health referrals. The BeeU Access Team manage the BeeU children and young people referrals. Referrals are read daily and we make decisions about what is routine and urgent based on the information referred. Once the referral is received by the BeeU Access Team, they will ensure all necessary information and supportive evidence is gathered to progress the referral. If at any time the situation becomes urgent please share the additional information.
A referral to the BeeU Access Team is urgent if there are:
- Concerns that a children / young person is suicidal and / or at risk of immediate and significant self-harm
- In acute psychological or emotional distress that is causing them to not be able to go about their daily activities, such as going to school and looking after themselves
- Concerns relating to an acute eating disorder, especially if there is rapid weight loss or worryingly low weight
- An immediate and significant risk to others due to their mental health
- Being considered for admission to a mental health inpatient unit
All referrals are screened by experienced Mental Health Practitioner to support decisions made around the most appropriate outcome of the referral, they can advise on where you can:
- Get help
- Get more help
- Manage in times of crisis
This may include the BeeU Access Team recommending online help and support, or help from other services / organisation. Sometimes you may need to get more specialist help and the BeeU Access Team can complete a phone assessment to request further information to help make a decision about what help is appropriate.
The BeeU Access Team will call the young person and their parent / carer to talk about the referral and seek their wishes and views about what help and support is required. We will give you every opportunity to respond, if we cannot make telephone contact we will leave you a voice mail or text. If necessary we will write to you to give 7 days to contact the service.
Kooth provides an anonymous 24-hour online service offering peer support, self-help and have trained counsellors to talk to.
Anyone aged 11-25, living in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, can register to access this service and you don’t need to be referred or have an appointment.
Whilst the website is available 24 hours, there will be someone to talk to online at the following times:
- 12:00 to 22:00 (Monday to Friday)
- 18:00 to 22:00 (Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays)
Beam is an emotional well-being service for Children & Young People under 25 years old who are registered with a GP in Shropshire or Telford & Wrekin.
How Beam helps.
Beam can support with anything relating to emotional well-being.
When we are emotionally healthy we:
- Function in society, whether that is at school, college, uni or at work, or when we are with friends and family.
- Cope with life’s challenges by drawing on our strengths.
- Understand and manage our emotions, expressing them in appropriate ways.
- Accept ourselves and show acceptance of others.
Our team is made up of experienced well-being practitioners who will take the time to listen to whatever it is that is troubling young people. We aim to boost the resilience of young people by helping them develop coping skills for when life presents challenges.
What support do Beam offer?
We are currently offering support via:
- Phone.
- Virtual face to face (via MS Teams).
What will Beam do?
- Recommend strategies and techniques that aim to make life easier – for example, how to manage a panic attack, or how to improve sleep.
- Give practical suggestions and advice – this might be suggesting you look at website or that you contact another service.
- Provide a listening ear if a young person has something they want to get off their chest.
Typical issues Beam can support with include:
- Anxiety (low-level) & worry
- Anger
- Identity
- Low mood
- Panic
- Self-esteem
- Sexuality
- Sleep
- Stress
What won't Beam do?
- Assess or diagnose any conditions.
- Automatically make referrals into other services.
- Necessarily have to tell anyone that a young person has spoken to Beam. There may be times where we feel we need to speak to other people, services or agencies. We will try and speak to you about this before we do.
Example issues that are outside of Beam's remit include:
- Crisis support
- Toileting
- Behaviour management
- Eating disorders
- Where a mental health diagnosis exists
Accessing support from Beam.
You can request support from Beam via our website:
- Scroll down the page to ‘register with us’.
- Complete your details on the form.
- We will contact you by email with a date and time for the appointment.
If you have been to Beam before, or you want to request a follow-up session, follow the same link – there will be an option to say you have already registered so you won’t need to complete all of your details again!
- Young people aged 14 years+ can register themselves.
- Young people aged 13 and under will need a parent/carer to register on their behalf.
If you have any questions about the Beam service, please contact us via email:
Healios is a specialist online provider of mental health and neurodevelopmental services to enhance the way in which children, young people, adults and their families access the right support, when and where they need it.
Healios blends the best of technology with clinical evidence-based techniques and trained clinicians to deliver assessments, evidence-based psychological therapies, and earlier intervention in a unique online experience on any device connected to the internet.
Healios provide psychological therapies online which are delivered by qualified practitioners (the same kind as those based in the Young People and Families Mental Health Service).
Healios’ approach has been established on evidence based best practice (evidence-based is the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values) and is endorsed by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence.
Healios work as part of the Young People and Families Mental Health Team to offer online, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Family Based Therapy (FBT) for eating disorders and specific post diagnostic interventions following a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
ThinkNinja app
ThinkNinja is a freely available mental health app with specific COVID-19 support which brings self-help skills to young people (10-18 years old) who maybe experiencing increased anxiety and stress during this time.
ThinkNinja provides an opportunity for young people to understand the following:
- Fears relating to the virus
- Isolation struggles and how to stay connected to family and friends
- Worries about personal health and health of family members
- Coping techniques to use during the crisis
- Plus many other helpful tips
For more information please visit the ThinkNinja website.
To access ThinkNinja download it from your app store:
We are a new team, set up in 2020 as part of the national drive to improve access to mental health support and provision to young people and improve links between schools and mental health services for young people.
Click on the image above to play our video.
The BeeU Mental Health Support Team supports 50+ schools across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, these consist of a mix of primary and secondary schools. Click here for a list of schools we support (pdf).
We aim to promote the early detection and prevention of mental health problems across the whole school, and strengthen links between schools and mental health services. The way we do this is to work closely with the designated Mental Health Lead for each of our schools as well as other key school staff to help support those pupils who may be experiencing emotional or mental health distress.
We provide direct, ongoing support to schools around mental health and wellbeing. These are examples of what we do:
- Provide direct support to pupils with mild to moderate mental health conditions, such as anxiety and low mood. This may also include delivering workshops to groups of pupils and parents.
- Provide consultations to schools to help think about the best support for the pupils, this may mean support from our team or help with referrals to a more appropriate service.
- Provide training, education and advice to school staff to help them better support their pupils around mental and emotional wellbeing.
- Champion mental wellbeing and resilience across the whole school community, providing guidance around whole school approaches.
- Delivering workshops to pupils and parents to help support in areas such as anxiety and resilience.
How to Refer
Referrals are made by the school and usually by the designated Mental Health Lead for the school. The school will book a consultation with a member of the team and think together about whether a referral would be appropriate or seek support about other sources of help and support.
If you are a parent or young person and feel that you would benefit from support from the team, you can discuss this directly with your school. Please check our school list to see if we are working with your school (pdf).
Mental Health Support Team Young Person Leaflet (pdf)
Mental Health Support Team School Spring Term Newsletter (pdf)
Mental Health Support Team School Summer Term Newsletter (pdf)
Referrals to BeeU come via an Access Team. The Access Team review the referral and may decide an initial assessment is required with a core BeeU clinician. This may be held online, over the phone, or face to face, and you will probably attend with your family or carer.
After this meeting, your core BeeU clinician will discuss the assessment within the wider BeeU team, through an Assessment Outcome Meeting. This includes psychologists, family therapists, mental health nurses, social workers and occupational therapists who can offer different skills and approaches depending on what you need.
In line with the THRIVE model (pdf) - Anna Freud Centre, this team may signpost you to further support or offer a set of 8 sessions called a Brief Intervention. This offers support with low mood, anxiety or deliberate self-harm. Additionally you could also receive longer support through an allocated worker within the Core Team.
What is ADHD?
A behavioural disorder of poor attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, which affects around 2% to 5% of school aged children.
All children may be restless and inattentive at times, but they may not have ADHD.
In ADHD, these symptoms may be exaggerated compared with other children of the same age, and may affect the child, their school, peers and family.
The ADHD Pathway
Our Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) pathway is made up of a small team of experienced professionals who provide assessment and treatment for young people.
How to access our service
We accept referrals from professionals who know the child or young person well, including teachers, special educational needs coordinators (SENCO) and educational psychologists.
Please be aware that we don’t accept referrals for assessment for children under six.
Find out more about the pathway and how to refer in the attached leaflet.
Useful resources
Practical guide for parents and carers (pdf)
ADHD guide for parents and carers (pdf)
Following investment from the clinical commissioning group at the end of last year, BeeU has recruited a team who will assess children and young people who have been waiting over 12 months for an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) assessment.
The team started to undertake assessments in September of last year and started with 294 children and young people. By January, this had reduced to 220 young people.
BeeU is working in partnership with another organisation who is going to assess the 40 children and young people who have waited the longest.
By the end of April 2021, BeeU plans to have started the assessments of all 220 children and young people still waiting.
Autism West Midlands' Shropshire family service is funded by Shropshire Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group. Families must live in the Shropshire Council area, and have children under 18 years old, with autism / autistic traits. An autism diagnosis is not needed. Information about the Shropshire family service.
The Telford Autism Hub provides support for those 18 years and above without a learning disability. Information about the Telford Autism Hub.
Autism West Midlands is the service available across the West Midlands for support with autism and autistic traits. Their helpline is available to anyone regardless of age or location, as well as webinars and online events. A diagnosis is not needed to access support. Information about Autism West Midlands.
Additional Resources
We are a highly specialist Learning Disabilities team who work with children, young people and their families where there are complex emotional, behavioural and / or mental health difficulties.
What we do
- Specialist assessments which include behavioural assessments, assessment of a young person's emotional and mental health needs or sometimes cognitive assessments where they can be useful as part of a wider assessment.
- Therapeutic interventions which aim to develop a better understanding of what is happening for that young person, their families and the environment around them and involve working collaboratively to reduce difficulties and improve wellbeing.
- Individual work with young people
- Groups for parents
- Family work
- Work closely with partner agencies like schools, social care and respite providers.
Who can refer?
We accept referrals from any professional working with the young people or working with their family.
Information for Professionals
In order for a referral to be considered by the Learning Disabilities team it would be expected that they meet the following criteria:
- That child or young person is of school age and attends either the Bridge Special School or Severndale Special School.
- That there is evidence of the presence of a Learning Disability from previous assessments such as a cognitive assessment (such as the WISC, WIPSII, British Ability Scale, etc), a recent Child Development Centre (CDC) multidisciplinary assessment, a recent Educational Psychology assessment, or a recent Education Health Care Plan (EHCP).
In addition the referrer would need to:
- Provide evidence of mental health and/or significant behaviours of concern e.g. physically aggressive behaviour, self-injury, sexually inappropriate behaviour, providing that such behaviours:
- are of sufficient frequency, severity or duration to require specialist assessment and intervention,
- impact significantly on the quality of life of the young person/others or present a significant risk to the health and / or safety of the young person and / or others
- occur in a range of situations one of which must be the home environment
- Provide evidence that, where appropriate, behavioural and / or parenting interventions have already been accessed through services such as Health Visiting or School Nursing or through courses such as ‘Early Bird’ or ‘Understanding your Child’s Behaviour’.
Referral Pathway
All referrals need to be made to the BeeUAccess Team by calling 0300 124 0093 (option 1) or by emailing 025spa@mpft.nhs.uk. You will be asked to complete the relevant referral form.
Team Members
- Diane Turner, Clinical Psychologist & Clinical Lead of LD Service
- Tanya Burton, Clinical Psychologist
- Steve Farmer, Clinical Psychologist
- Carol Kennedy, Advanced Nurse Practitioner
- Sue Williams, Learning Disability Nurse
- Sophie Neininger, Learning Disability Nurse
- Mary Bromley, Behavioural Specialist
- Helen McKinnon, Behavioural Specialist
- Eleanor Adams, Consultant Psychiatrist
Contact Details
0300 124 0093 (Option 3)
BeeU Learning Disability Team
Severn Fields Health Village
Sundorne Road
Shrewsbury
SY1 4RQ
The Young People Community Eating Disorders Service (YP-CEDS) provides specialist outpatient assessment and treatment for young people suffering from an eating disorder in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.
The service provides an evidence-based approach to helping young people restore physical health whilst helping them to improve their emotional health and wellbeing through therapy and guidance, focusing on positive and effective ways to manage eating difficulties.
We work with young people suffering with:
- Anorexia Nervosa
- Bulimia Nervosa
and those who have difficulties with eating that don’t match those above called Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorders (OSFED).
Accessing the service
Our contact number is 0300 124 0093, option 3 (Shropshire)
Please note that we are not a crisis service, therefore if your query is urgent or out-of-hours we would advise that you contact your GP surgery or NHS 111 for initial advice.
At present we only accept referrals from a professional (a GP or school nurse). However, school teachers and dance / sport coaches can also refer into the service. We would advise if your child has not been seen by your / their GP recently, that an appointment is made to see the GP in order that any physical cause for their symptoms can be excluded and also to provide us with information that will help us assess the risk and urgency of the referral. The referral can still be made to us at the same time as arranging an appointment with the GP.
If you are unsure whether the referral is appropriate, or if you have other questions then please call and ask to speak with the duty clinician.
Occasionally, the underlying issue may not be an eating disorder. In this instance, the team may recommend referral to a more appropriate team or service.
What treatment is offered?
The team is multi-disciplinary and includes a psychiatrist, a systemic family practitioner, a specialist dietician, and nurses. We also work closely with the paediatric department at Princess Royal Hospital, Telford.
We offer:
- Assessment, diagnosis and interventions on a range of suspected and confirmed eating disorders
- Evidence-based treatments including systemic therapeutic interventions, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
- Intensive support is available for those children and young people whose eating disorder is causing significant concern
- A comprehensive transition support package to those young people who are approaching their 18th birthday and may need continuing support as adults
Eating disorders can often affect those people closest to us, causing distress. Education and guidance will be offered to you, along with your family / carers.
We also offer training, consultation, support and advice to frontline staff working with young people with eating disorders.
Young Persons Community Eating Disorder Leaflet
Useful resources on eating disorders & problems
Many people experience problems with eating. They can occur at any age but often affect teenagers, both males and females. Eating problems include a range of different concerns. Often, food intake may be restricted either as a way of losing weight or for other personal reasons not involving weight loss. For other young people, there may be a cycle of eating lots in one go (binging) and then compensating for this with behaviours including restricting food, forcibly vomiting or taking laxatives. Some people may binge without doing these behaviours afterwards and others have a combination of the above difficulties. Finally, there are some children and young people who have very restrictive diets because they struggle with the taste of new foods. This can make it difficult for them to get the nutrition they need and can cause social difficulties such as eating out with family / friends.
Eating problems can be very distressing both for you and your family and it can be hard for those around you to understand. Eating problems can also affect both your physical health and your emotional wellbeing and people can feel quite lonely trying to deal with it by themselves. If you are struggling with any of these issues, there is help out there, both through local services and self-help resources.
To Find Out More
Beat Eating Disorders are a charity with great information about eating difficulties.
Guide for friends and family (pdf) - B-eat
Caring for someone with an eating disorder (pdf) - B-eat
Books, Websites and Helplines
The Urgent Helpline offers a listening ear, advice, support and signposting for adults, children and their carers.
Our Urgent Helpline operates 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week.
You or your parent / carer can contact us if you have any concerns regarding your own mental health and wellbeing. Our experienced call handlers and clinicians will listen to your worries and concerns and try to help you in the best possible way. During the call we may advise you or your parent / carer about local services that you can access and contact directly.
You can contact us by calling 0808 196 4501 (option 1 for under 18’s, option 2 for over 18’s).
Young people under 18 years of age are able to contact our service directly for support and urgent advice.
Please be aware that we would not be able to processes a referral to Children’s and Family Mental Health services (CAMHS) over the phone. You will have to speak to your GP or School in the first instance who can make a professional referral via BeeU Access Team. We will be able however to speak to the right team on your behalf if you feel as you are in crisis.
What is a crisis?
When you feel hopeless and cannot see a way out of your situation with dark thoughts not wanting to be alive or significantly hurting yourself.
Please see below some useful resources for you to use when you feel you are in crisis:
Calm Harm
Resources available to support with self harming behaviour for people aged 13+
Shout Crisis text line
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts and keeping yourself safe, text shout to 85258 and someone will call you back
Papyrus
Support for young people at risk of suicide. Available 10am-10pm Mon-Fri, 2pm-10pm weekends and Bank holidays: 0800 068 4141
Who we are
We are a multi-disciplinary team which works with children and young people who present in Crisis related to Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health needs.
The team is made up of:
- Mental Health Nurses
- Mental Health Practitioners
- Social Workers
- Support Workers
Who we see
We cover the whole of Shropshire including Telford and we assess those who are:
- An immediate and significant risk to others due to their mental health
- Being considered for admission to a mental health inpatient unit
- at risk of immediate and significant self-harm
- In acute psychological or emotional distress that is causing them to not be able to go about their daily activities, such as going to school and looking after themselves
What we do
When you are referred to the Crisis team, we'll talk to you or a parent/caregiver about your/their concerns and agree what needs to happen next. If a visit from us is the right option, we'll arrange a safe place to meet, either at home or where we are based at Telford Langley School. During a visit, we'll work with you to decide what immediate and short-term help is needed, to get things back on track.
Home treatment
Our Home Treatment team offers personalised at-home appointments for children and young people who need a high level of mental health support. This may be following a mental health crisis, after an inpatient stay or simply to assist with managing day-to-day mental health in the community.
Download our leaflet: Crisis team leaflet (pdf)
A collection of links to other online resources (pdf)
- Royal College of Pyschiatrists - Young People's Mental Health: Information for young people, parents and carers, about young people's mental health, written by psychiatrists and young people working together
- CAMHS Resources: A compilation of CAMHS resources for young people, carers and professionals from across the internet that are available to help support your mental health and well-being
- Newbold Hope Webinar Schedule Spring 2021: A series of webinars funded by the NHSE/I and open to parents and professionals who care for SEND children with anxiety-led extreme or violent behavioural challenges. Designed to empower parents to gain the skills needed to be able to rescue a child from their own difficulties, each one looks at a different aspect of how family life is impacted by a child with very difficult behaviours, and how to help a child cope better in a safer and happier way. There is a £2.50 cost for each webinar, free for families experiencing financial hardship.
- 9 Steps to Help You Cope with Life Changing Disability or Illness in Your Child: Article written by Yvonne Newbold
- BeeU handout
- Sleep pathway
- Pandemics, lockdowns and how we feel - helpful and practical information for parents/carers of children and young people with learning disabilities.
Involvement for Children, Young People, Parents and Carers
If you have experience of using our services or care for someone who does, you can become involved in the Trust’s work, have your voice heard and take part in projects and activities.
Using your experience of our services, enthusiasm and ideas for potential improvement, can bring a whole new point of view to the planning and delivery of those services. Also, this may give you a better experience of services which contributes to your own health and wellbeing as well as improving services for all.
The following are some examples of involvement:
- Sharing experience of services at forums to feed back to managers
- Taking part in focus groups or workshops to influence service design and development
- Involvement in the recruitment and selection of staff
- Helping to improve the effectiveness of staff training
- Taking part in research and audit
- Take part in our Mystery Shopper programme
- Be included on a mailing list (armchair consultation) to give your views on information leaflets, policies and other consultations
Travel expenses can be claimed and for some activities, an involvement fee is offered. More information about the payment policy is available on request
Download, complete and return the Involvement Form (pdf) to register your interest.
Giving your feedback
We want your feedback!
Tell us what you think!
Young people, family and carers we need your help to improve BeeU!
Your feedback helps to make sure our service is the best it can be. Please let us know what you think and give us your ideas about how we can improve.
The survey only takes 5 minutes. Follow the link to the BeeU feedback survey.
Transition Survey
We are also keen to hear from young people who are moving on from our services and their parents and carers so we can understand their experience of moving on from BeeU post 18, either to adult mental health services or discharged to a GP.
There are two surveys, pre- and post-transition:
- Pre-Transition from BeeU to Adult MH services feedback - follow this link to the pre-transition survey
- Post-Transition from BeeU to Adult MH services feedback - follow this link to the post-transition survey