On Monday 14th September 2015, the RMC expanded to accept an increased range of referrals for children and young people’s services within Northamptonshire. The RMC now provides a single point of referral for all Professionals for:

• Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Services
• NHFT Child & Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS)
• Youth Counselling; and 1-1/Group work with Children and Young People
• Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) Specialist Children’s Services
• Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Community Nursing
• Community Paediatrics
• Community Team for People with a Learning Disability (CTPLD)
• Continence Assessment
• Dietetics
• Looked After Children (Mental Health only)
• Occupational Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Specialist School Nursing
• Northampton General Hospital (NGH) Children’s Community Services:
• Community Paediatrics Children’s Community Nursing Children’s Physiotherapy
• Child and Adolescent Bereavement Service

Any professional in the county (e.g. GP, teacher, health visitor, social worker) can now refer using one single referral form to one central place; the Referral Management Centre. Referrals are screened by a clinician from NHFT or NGH and then passed to the most appropriate service or services which best meet the needs of the child or young person – be that NHFT, NGH, a Specialist CAMHS response, youth counselling or youth-based group work.

Feedback on the expansion has been very positive. Here are just a few of the comments we have received:

“I pointed one of our out of area placements in the direction of the RMC to sort continence products and they fedback that the RMC were excellent and really helpful”

“Thank you so much for your help – this is the first time that I feel that someone has listened to me” “I had no idea that I could make a referral using SystmOne – this will save all of us so much time”

“Referrals for children with multiple needs are so much simpler now to complete, the single referral form makes all the difference”