Services

We offer assessment and treatment for children up to and including 12 years of age, who have a an established or suspected mental health disorder which requires a period of intensive assessment and/or treatment. Referrals will be accepted from Tier 3 CAMHS services.

Our unit works closely with parents or carers to understand their child's needs, the impact of the child’s difficulties on other people around the child, and the effect of those changes upon the family on the child.

Treatment at Acorn Lodge is based around a weekly, five-day model, allowing the child to spend evenings and weekends home. This model is very important for both the child and the family to help minimise the time away from home, and also to undertake interventions within a community setting. Following assessment, children will be offered a six to eight week programme to engage in education and access one to one therapeutic support from nursing staff and multi-disciplinary team colleagues.

The education and clinical teams will provide a package of care which best meets the child’s holistic needs and one that can be continued in the community. Our staff are from a variety of specialist backgrounds, including child psychiatry, clinical psychology, nursing, social work and occupational therapy.

Education is provided on site by specialist teaching staff at the Maudsley and Bethlem Hospital School

13 October - ADHD medication supply disruptions: Advice for General Practitioners

On Friday 27th September 2023 the Department of Health and Social Care issued a National Patient Safety Alert regarding supply disruptions with many of the medication prescribed for ADHD (Equasym XL, Xaggatin XL, Concerta XL, Xenidate XL, Lisdexamfetamine, Guanfacine). This disruption has been attributed to a combination of manufacturing issues and increased global demand. Please see the 'more info' tab below for further information.

Update 19 June 2023:

The service remains closed to new national referrals at present, though we will update you regarding the plan for reopening before January 2024.

Please note we remain open to local referrals from Lambeth, Lewisham, Croydon, Southwark and Bromley, Greenwich, Bexley (via Oxleas).

We also remain open to new referrals requesting medical reviews and follow ups for patients with an established diagnosis of a genetic disorder associated with an established behavioural phenotype, for example, 22q 11 deletion syndrome.

All accepted referrals past and up to the date 13 January 2023, will be honoured for assessment and/or treatment as per the referral request, this will include those currently on the waiting list.

As previously notified 18 July 2022:

From Friday 13 January 2023, the National adult ADHD & ASD outpatient clinic and the National adult ADHD & ASD Psychology Service (NAAAPS) are temporarily closed to new national referrals for an initial period of 6 months. Any referrals sent following this time will not be processed or kept on file. This decision is being reviewed regularly. Unfortunately we do not as yet have a date as to when we will be receiving new ADHD and ASD referrals again. Please contact your local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for information on local services available.

Please note we remain open to local referrals from Lambeth, Lewisham, Croydon, Southwark (via A&L) and Bromley, Greenwich, Bexley (via Oxleas). We also remain open to new referrals requesting medical reviews and follow ups for patients with an established diagnosis of a genetic disorder associated with an established behavioural phenotype, for example, 22q 11 deletion syndrome.

We continue to experience an extremely high volume of referrals which unfortunately is resulting in delays in processing. We are working as quickly as possible and appreciate your patience during this time.

Please contact your local teams for access to talking therapies and/or mental health support as required. The Autism Act (2009), NHS Long Term Plan (2019) and other policy and best practice documents clearly state that individuals with autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions should be seen within mainstream services, with ‘reasonable adjustments’ made, wherever possible.

Examples of helpful ‘reasonable adjustments’ for autistic individuals receiving talking therapies can be found in the National Autistic Society and MIND guide here

A range of helpful books on offering CBT for ADHD have been published.

Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy for ADHD in Adolescents and Adults (2012) by Susan Young and Jessica Bramham

Mastering Your Adult ADHD: A Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program, Therapist Guide (2 ed.) by Steven A. Safren, Susan E. Sprich, Carol A. Perlman, and Michael W. Otto

If you are struggling to get support you may wish to contact your local Patient Advisory and Liaison Service.

The Croydon Adult Personality Disorder Service is a specialist multidisciplinary psychotherapy service providing psychotherapeutic treatment for people with moderate to severe personality disorder across Tiers 1-3 of the mental health services in Croydon.

We provide consultation, assessment and treatment programme, for patients presenting with emotionally unstable personality disorder (and other associated personality difficulties). The Tier 3 day hospital service is aimed at people who have frequent service contacts, previous unsuccessful treatment of their condition and need a high level of psychiatric and psychotherapy intervention.

To reach this patient group we in-reach to the Croydon inpatient wards to offer consultation, assessment and a pathway to accessing psychotherapeutic treatment for those it would benefit. We aim to help reduce the length of stay in hospital for those who are willing to engage in therapy. For people whose level of risk is too high for a community treatment we can complete assessments to screen for suitability for a Tier 4 personality disorder inpatient treatment.

For these patients we work towards providing an alternative to hospital admission. We can also care co-ordinate the patients in the tier 3 service and specifically focus on supporting the safe transition between services.

In addition, we offer tier 2 level treatments including an intensive outpatient programme and a lower intensity outpatient treatment as well as an open access community based group known as the Sun Project (tier 1).

The Sun Project, (a self-referral, crisis and coping skills group) in central Croydon provides a service that is readily accessible to those previously excluded from psychiatric services or conventional out-patient psychotherapy.

All tiers of our service aim to help people build a life worth living, promote recovery, improve social and interpersonal functioning, and increase the appropriate use of other statutory and voluntary sector services.

All therapy is being delivered via Microsoft Teams at present due to safety restrictions required during the Covid 19 pandemic
 

ART provides nursing, residential and specialist care placements for people, aged 18-65, who have recently moved to independent living.

We provide care co-ordination, specialist assessment and rehabilitation services for people who live in the Borough of Lambeth. Where necessary we also provide clinical care for non-Lambeth residents who have been placed within the borough, as well as social care for people who have moved to more independent, out of borough placements.

Our team includes health and social care professions, including nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists, social workers, support workers and psychiatrists.

We promote the recovery of people who require care and support in a residential setting.

We are a community-based assessment, treatment and advice service for people in the South Asian community, aged 18-65, who have a range of mental health and complex social care problems. We care for people living in the London Borough of Lambeth.

Our aim is to provide care for people in the South Asian community who, for cultural or language reasons are unable, or who refuse, to use sector-based mental health services.

Our adult community mental health team (CMHT) offers a range of culturally inclusive care and treatment services, and we are able to communicate in Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu as well as English.

We aim to offer high quality CBT aimed at reducing symptoms of anxiety disorder and improve functioning and quality of life. This would lead to reduced need for local service provision.

The advantages of admission to a residential setting are the ability to deliver CBT in a more intensive format. Staff or residents may assist in frequent exposure or behavioural experiments in a supportive environment. There are more opportunities for modelling and positive reinforcement by others in the moment. There is increased flexibility in delivery of the therapy that can keep the momentum going. Sometimes there are advantages to removing a person from their home context.

We integrate occupational therapy into the therapy. Living in a residential unit increases responsibility that may not occur on an inpatient unit with nursing staff as well as the support and reinforcement from other residents. Lastly the unit can monitor any medication changes or adherence.

For patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), we operate at the highest level of stepped care in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. We do this by providing intensive CBT for the treatment of severe OCD and BDD.

For patients with other anxiety disorders (post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social phobia, agoraphobia/panic, specific phobias, generalised anxiety disorder) the service also operates at the highest level of stepped care in the respective NICE guidelines. We do this by providing intensive CBT and optimisation of medication for the relevant anxiety disorder. The service is for those who have severe symptoms and who have failed treatment locally.

We offer inpatient and outpatient mental illness assessments by psychiatrists to people, aged 18-65. We also provide psychiatric assessments within Emergency Departments (ED) to determine if people need mental health care and treatment at the above hospitals.

Our aim is to ensure that mental illness expertise is available to people who require assessment, care and treatment.

We provide a range of clinical care and treatment services to suit people's needs.

We provide a service for people aged 18-65, who live in the London Borough of Croydon or are registered with our aligned GP Practice and have a main diagnosis of a non psychotic mental illness.

We provide advice on the best treatment and care options available to people who have moderate to severe mental illness, such as anxiety, depression or personality disorder.

We work with a team of health and social care professionals including nurses, doctors, social workers, psychologists We also work closely with the patients, their carers and GPs.

Aubrey Lewis 1 Ward (AL1) is in the Maudsley Hospital. We provide inpatient assessment, treatment and care for people aged over 65 with acute mental illness or under 65 for people who have dementia.

We care for older adults who are admitted to hospital in a crisis and support them back into the community.

Aubrey Lewis 3 (AL3) is a ward at the Maudsley Hospital. We provide adult inpatient care and treatment for men, aged 16-65, who have severe mental illness. We provide care for residents of the London Borough of Southwark.

Acute illnesses start quickly and have distressing symptoms. We aim to ensure that people with acute mental illness, who need 24 hour hospital care, are safe and receive the assessment and treatment they need.

Bethlem Adolescent Unit is an open adolescent unit, offering mental health care for adolescents with serious mental illness who require hospital admission. We have developed a national and international reputation for innovation and have a comprehensive, all hours emergency admission service.

The majority of the young people we treat are emergency admissions, however planned admissions can also be arranged. Admissions are accepted 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, and can be accepted under the Mental Health Act.

Approximately half of the young people admitted to our unit have psychosis. Others have problems relating to their mood, often posing a risk to themselves. We are also able to admit young people with a variety of other psychiatric or neurodevelopmental disorders, or where there is diagnostic uncertainty.

As we are an open unit, we are unable to admit young people who pose a level of risk that is not consistent with being cared for in such an environment. This judgement is always based on individual risk assessment rather than applying absolute exclusion criteria, and is reviewed regularly. People requiring care in a more secure setting can be admitted to the unit if the risk has altered.

We provide a broad range of interventions, which are delivered by a team of psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, teachers, occupational therapists, social workers and other therapists.

We maintain close links with the person's referring team to ensure they experience a smooth transition back to the community. Day treatment is often used as a step-down service and can sometimes be used to avoid admission altogether.

**Due to Covid some appointments and groups are being offered remotely**

Community Drug and alcohol advice and treatment service for adults living in the London Borough of Bexley.

Services include:

• Daily open access clinics.
• Booked triage sessions.
• Onsite recovery groups.
• Support for addiction to prescribed and over the counter medications.
• Alcohol specific interventions
• Substitute prescribing for opiate users.
• Families and carers service.
• Health interventions.
• Confidential Needle Exchange
• Close working with the criminal justice system
• ETE
• Mutual aid groups including NA, CA and SMART Peer support and specific training