‘Whose Baby is it Anyway?’: Developing a Joined-Up Service Involving Child and Adult Teams Working in a Mental Health Trust

Abstract

Clive Britten and Amynta Cardwell describe how clinicians from a London-based child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS), in partnership with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), developed a joined-up service with colleagues in the local adult mental health teams at St Charles Hospital. The aim was to raise awareness of the potential risk factors posed to children being cared for by an adult with a mental health problem and to provide a designated clinical service for this particular client group. In discussing how the service developed, the authors highlight key learning points and identify the sources they have drawn on. These include direct clinical work, the findings of other colleagues working in the mental health field and methodological approaches designed by practitioners specialising in cross-boundary working.