‘The garden’ CAMHS Environment Project

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) support children from birth to 18 who are experiencing poor mental health or difficult feelings or experiences.

CAMHS is staffed by multi-disciplinary teams which include CAMHS practitioners, nurses, child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and other professionals who work with children.

A few years ago, a young person accessing CAMHS at Wrexham Child Health Centre wanted to look at the entire CAMHS environment – everything from the clinic rooms to the website. The Head of Nursing invited the young person to tell her more and encouraged her to find out what others thought would help to improve the service for children attending appointments at the Child Health Centre.

The young person, also a member of Senedd yr Ifanc – Wrexham’s Youth Parliament, worked with peers to run a survey of about 950 people aged 10 to 25 who lived in Wrexham. About half of the respondents had attended the Child Health Centre at some point in their lives.

Feedback from the survey included ideas for improvements to the clinic rooms, information and resources for children and the outdoor area. The survey results identified that the outdoor area was valued but needed attention to be more child friendly.

CAMHS and Senedd yr Ifanc are now collaborating to ensure that the project is youth led and that play is kept in mind through the environmental improvements.

A range of partners, such as the council’s Play and Youth Support Team, Coleg Cambria and the National Trust are working with child health professionals and the estates team to co-produce an outdoor space which supports a range of play types and offers a place to explore and relax in. The garden, due to open in April 2024, will include space for early years, quiet spaces, shelters and a playbox with loose parts to support play and creativity.

Jane Berry, CAMHS Patient Experience Lead, said:

‘Co-production and engagement takes time to ensure that the views and suggestions of children are listened to as part of the play garden improvement. Visiting playwork sessions with the council’s play team was really helpful and inspiring. Seeing children lead their own play reminded us how important playing is to children.’

Marilyn Wells, Head of Nursing for CAMHS, said:

‘Play is already an important part of assessment at the Child Health Centre. We also have a role in making sure children have time to play on site as part of their recovery. Our patients are children first, all who have a right to play. It is important to provide a range of environments to ensure we maximise the opportunity for play with our children which in turn helps with engagement.’