- SERVICE PROVIDER
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
This is an organisation that runs the health and social care services we inspect
Assessment report published 20 May 2026
Contents
Ratings - Specialist community mental health services for children and young people
Our view of the service
We inspected the service on 25-27th November.
Blackpool child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) is a community mental health service for children and young people in Blackpool. The service comprises of the following teams: a core CAMHS team; a Primary Mental Health Workers (PMHWs) team; a school based Fylde Coast Mental Health support team (SHINE); a Children and Young People’s Wellbeing Practitioners team (CYWPs) a Children and Young People’s Learning Disability and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) team; a talking therapies team (You therapY) and a Response and Intensive Support team (RAIS). The service had an Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) pathway that offered screening, assessment and treatment for hyperactivity, attention difficulties and impulsivity. The service did not offer screening for autism. The service is based at Whitegate Health Centre and shares its’ reception, office space and waiting area with a neighbouring trust.
We gathered information from people using the service and their loved ones, staff, managers and other stakeholders. We reviewed a range of documents including care records, policies and procedures. We looked at 33 quality statements.
We rated the service as Good. We found 1 breach of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment.
Since our last inspection, we found the following improvements:
-The Trust ensured that young peoples’ care and treatment addressed the mental health problems identified during assessment.
-Waiting lists had improved, young people were waiting an average of 3 weeks for core CAMHS team and there were shorter waits for other teams.
Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act Compliance Summary
Staff had received Mental Capacity Act or Mental Health Act training as part of their mandatory training.
Staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act, in particular the five statutory principles. Staff also used the Gillick competency (a test in medical law to decide whether a child of 16 years or younger is competent to consent to medical examination or treatment) where this was required.
The provider had a policy on the Mental Capacity Act and Mental Health Act, including deprivation of liberty safeguards. Staff were aware of the policy and had access to it. However, the Mental Health Act policy did not contain guidance on Community Treatment Orders (CTOs).
We rated the service as good. We found 1 breach of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment.
-The service had an effective pathway into the service. Young people were assessed in a timely way, seen by the service that best met their needs and waiting lists were short.
-The service had effective relationship with other services, such as safeguarding and schools, communicated well with its’ stakeholders and worked collaboratively with other providers to ensure young people received appropriate care and treatment. Staff worked in a person-centred way, focused on the needs of young people and their families and communicated effectively with young people. Young people and their families told us they felt staff listened to them and were responsive to their needs. The service sought feedback from young people and their families and used this to improve services. The service involved young people in the running of the service through its service user involvement group.
However
- Recruitment impacted on service delivery. Staff were not replaced when they left, the service's psychologist had left and been replaced by a 0.2 whole time equivalent bank psychologist, staff told us clinics were sometimes cancelled due to staffing pressures.
-Not all young people had a care plan or risk assessment.
The waiting room was out of sight of reception, and this meant it was difficult to monitor risks or be aware of incidents.
Staff did not always feel supported by managers and the trust did not always consider the needs of the Specialist Community Mental Health Services for Children and Young People within its wider policies and procedures.
We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
People's experience of this service
During our inspection we spoke with 2 young people and 8 carers.
Young people and their families told us that staff were kind and compassionate. Comments included that ‘primary health and CAMHS were brilliant, that ‘care is consistent’ and that they ‘feel heard and that their voice matters.’
Young people and their families told us they were involved in the development of their care plans and risk assessments. They said young people were listened to, that nothing was rushed and they were treated as individuals.
Most young people and families said they knew how to complain and said they could speak to staff or use QR codes to do so. Families told us that staff communicated with them regularly and they could call up for support if needed.
Young people and families mostly told us that they accessed the service quickly, however some young people had been referred several times before they had been accepted for an assessment.