Child and Adolescent Mental Health

The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Clinical Academic Group (CAG) includes local, national, specialist outpatient and inpatient services.

CAMHS BethlemThe CAG provides comprehensive care for children and young people (aged 0 -18) presenting with mental ill health. Through our partner mental health trust South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, we provide assessment and treatment for the full range of mental disorders presenting in childhood.

Read the latest news from our Child and Adolescent Mental Health CAG.

Underpinning our clinical services is a foundation of research and education and training, which is hosted within the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at King’s College London.

Education

We contribute to a wide range of professional training including child and adolescent psychiatry, mental health nursing and clinical psychology. We also provide a range of courses on therapeutic modalities such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and family therapy, as well as hosting two Masters courses and a number of PhD students. Education and training for the current workforce and the next generation of clinicians is crucial to making lasting improvements.

Key achievements in education:

  • The CAG provides undergraduate teaching in child psychiatry for students who now have one half day of teaching, consisting of lectures and interactive workshops run by consultant psychiatrists and specialist registrars. The CAG is one of the Lead Providers for Higher Psychiatry - Child and Adolescent in south London
  • The CAG delivers the Department of Health's new CYP-IAPT initiative (Children and Young People's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies). Much of the evidence-base for these psychological therapies and the curricula for the nationwide programme have been developed in the CAG
  • Simulation courses have been created over the last few years as part of Maudsley Simulation. Courses such as Simulation Working at the Mental Physical Interface (SWAMP CYP) continues to draw participants from different clinical disciplines across different trusts, and the Medically Unexplained Symptoms in Children (MUSIC) course for senior paediatricians continues to be offered. A new course has been developed to work with mental health problems in child refugees, in conjunction with the Refugee Council. The CAG has also developed a simulation training day entitled 'Meeting the Health Needs of People with Learning Disabilities'
  • The following teaching innovations continue to be applied: simulation training, teaching and supervision in CBT, evidence-based research assessment tools (Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia) and cutting-edge clinical tools (Therapeutic Assessment). The MSc continues to share a module on Systematic Reviews with the MSc in Family Therapy.

Research

Our research extends from basic science identifying the causes of child mental ill health, through to the evaluation of new diagnostics and treatments. We aim to embed research at every level of our child and adolescent mental health services because this is key to improving our clinical services and delivering innovations that work for children and young people.

Innovations and achievements

  • Read about how our clinical academic collaborations are improving the lives of our patients in Innovation Impact Stories
  • See 70 examples of key achievements from across our partnership in our CAGraphics booklet.
Put together, autism, ADHD and intellectual disability affect 5-10% of people. They start early in childhood and persist into adult life causing significant impairment in personal, social, and working aspects of life. Making a difference to the course of such disorders in childhood can have important implications, with knock-on positive effects in adolescence and adult life.
Prof Emily Simonoff, Academic Lead of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health CAG

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Clinical Academic Group Leaders

Dr Bruce Clark, Clinical Director, Senior Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, South London and Maudsley NHS FT.

Prof Emily Simonoff, Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Head of Department, King’s College London.

Harold Bennison, Service Director, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, South London and Maudsley NHS FT.

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