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Leeds MindMate Single Point of Access
Information for a young person or family member wanting to know more about MindMate SPA
Information for professionals supporting children and young people in Leeds
MindMate Single Point of Access (SPA) is there to identify support for children and young people in Leeds with their emotional wellbeing or mental health. It is for all children and young people who have a Leeds GP, of school age and under the age of 18. We work with a variety of services in order to find the right support.
Referrals can be made for school aged children and young people and up until their 18th Birthday. Referrals for children under 13 years of age will require consent from a parent or carer. Young people over the age of 13 years are able to give consent for a referral themselves should they wish to
NB Due to the high levels of demand the team are currently experiencing, we are unable to respond to queries regarding waiting times for triage of referrals. Please contact the team only if there has been a significant change to the original referral information provided. All referrals are screened for clinical urgency upon receipt. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.
Young people and their parents/carers can make a self referral by:
- Calling to speak to a member of our admin team on 03005550324. We are open between 9am-5pm Monday to Friday
- Completing an online self referral form
Professional referrals can be made as follows:
- Email – gain consent, fill out the referral form (link below) with as much information as you can from the young person and/or their family. Also, ensure a patient information leaflet is provided. Email the completed forms to leeds.mindmatespa@nhs.net . You must use a secure email address (e.g nhs.net, gcsx.gov.uk) that is monitored regularly.
How Leeds MindMate SPA works
Once a referral is received via the phone or via the online form a SPA practitioner will start to triage your referral. This may include speaking to the person who made the referral (a parent/carer if this is the case), the child or young person who the referral relates to and sometimes the school or education setting as well as other professionals that may be provide support to the child or young person. We do this to ensure that we are able to identify the right support. We aim to triage a referral within 2 weeks. This can take longer in some cases if we are unable to speak to the right people. The outcome of the triage will be discussed with the young person or parent/carer (depending on who made the referral) and a letter will be sent out confirming the outcome and recommendations.
Frequently asked questions
Young people (13-17 years) and parents and carers of children (5-17 years) can now talk directly to the SPA team.
GP / health care professionals – can make a referral to the SPA directly, using the guidance and forms on this page.
Social workers – can make a referral to the SPA directly if you are unsure the standard council-provided services (e.g the Therapeutic Social Work Service and Families First Programme) are right for the child / young person.
School staff – cannot make a referral to the SPA directly. In the first instance you should speak to your school’s cluster support and guidance panel about Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health support (formerly TaMHS) which can offer support and may make a referral directly to the SPA if they feel specialist services are needed.
School nurses – in the first instance continue to use the Emotional Health and Wellbeing Pathway but you can make a direct referral to the SPA when there has been no improvement in the young person’s wellbeing after the Pathway, or the level of intervention is beyond the scope of the offer, for example suspected autism.
College staff – cannot make a referral to the SPA directly. In the first instance you should speak to your college’s Stay Safe Officer or designated staff member which can offer support. Only these staff can make a referral directly to the SPA if they feel more specialist support is necessary – for example CAMHS.
Leeds MindMate SPAmay have to pass the young person’s information outside of the NHS to schools, the council or other agencies for the purposes of patient care. It is essential that the young person or family understands and consents to this. The easiest way to do this is by sharing the patient information leafletwith them. You must then get verbal consent either from the parent/carer or the child/young person (if they meet Gillick Competency).
To order hard copies of the patient information leaflet email LSECCG.comms@nhs.net
Referrals without confirmed consent cannot be processed by the SPA and will be returned to the referrer for completion.
All referrals are screened by a clinician. Therefore it is essential that as much information is included within the referral form or discussed when the referral is made, this allows the SPA clinician to quickly determine the urgency of the referral and the recommendations. If you feel the referral is urgent please call to speak to someone directly at MindMate SPA to discuss this.
If you feel that the child or young person is at imminent risk of harm, such as a serious injury or overdose, please attend your nearest A&E. Within Leeds and for young people under the age of 16 years, this is Leeds General Infirmary (LGI
If you suspect that a child or young person is being harmed or is at risk of being harmed then you have a duty to report it immediately. Visit Leeds Safeguarding Children Board website for further advice.
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No. MindMate SPA work with a variety of agencies and services to find the right support. Leeds CAMHS is just one of the services we work with.
Consent
As part of the triage process, MindMate SPA practitioners will share information with the following agencies:
- Local Authority
- Schools and Education settings
- The NHS
It is essential that the young person or family understands and consents to this. The easiest way to do this is by sharing the patient information leaflet with them. You must then get verbal consent either from the parent/carer or the child/young person (if they meet Gillick Competency).
To order hard copies of the patient information leaflet email LSECCG.comms@nhs.net
Referrals without confirmed consent cannot be processed by the SPA and will be returned to the referrer for completion.
Still looking for assistance?
Please contact the Leeds MindMate SPA team on:
