Applying for help from the hub

Referral criteria

One or more of the following criteria should apply to the child or young person being referred:

• Experiencing mild to moderate emotional well-being challenges.
• Needs assistance with non-urgent emotional and mental health issues, typically suitable for intervention within 6-8 sessions.
• Living in a property which pays council tax to Wokingham Borough Council (this can be checked on the UK Government website)
• Before you make a referral, please check whether the child/young person attends an MHST support setting. The list can be found by visiting :  https://cypf.berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/our-services/children-and-adolescent-mental-health-services-camhs/camhs-mental-health-support-teams-mhsts/, then scroll down to West Berkshire, then again to Wokingham Schools. If their education setting is listed, you need to liaise with the school to make a referral. If your child/young person attends an out of borough or specialist setting you are advised to liaise with the school to check whether they have MHST support.
• If the child/young person is not in education or is home educated, please indicate this in the additional information. In the first instance, you may wish to email Emotional Wellbeing Hub to clarify if a referral is needed or whether a different route is more appropriate. Guidance will be provided to access other resources when appropriate.

The hub will communicate through email, to avoid these going into your junk folder please add the following address: emotionalwellbeinghub@wokingham.gov.uk to your email address book. 

Where it is appropriate referrals will be shared our NHS colleagues in Primary Mental Health Team 4 Youth (PMHT4Y). Following an assessment the PMHT4Y may provide further signposting or direct to another part of NHS. This is a not an alternative route to obtaining a diagnosis or medication support.

Consent

So that referrals are processed without delay, it is important that they meet the criteria listed below.

• For children/young people under 16 (excluding those identified as SEN)
  • Contact details and consent for all parents/carers with legal responsibility
  • Consent from the young person if they are 12 years or above
• For young people age 16 and above (not SEN)
  • Self-referrals, without parent/carer consent, are accepted
• If parent/carer consent is not provided professionals should consider contacting either the setting safeguarding officer or reporting concerns to the council's child protection team.
• Referrals may be delayed or declined if :
  • they are made by anyone other than an appropriate supporting professional; person with legal responsibility; or the young person if aged 16+
  • they do not include the consent as identified above
  • relevant fields are not completed

What it means to give your consent

By consenting, parents, carers or young person are agreeing:

• To storage of relevant data on appropriate database(s)
• The transfer and sharing of information between Wokingham Borough Council, NHS, appropriate professionals where relevant to the referral
• That the referral can be discussed with professionals where relevant: i.e. case discussion or allocation meetings (i.e. Emotional Wellbeing Forum, triage), to obtain further information to best support the referral management
• That disclosures which raise a safeguarding concern will be escalated as appropriate.

How your personal data is stored

Read the Wokingham Borough Council's and Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust privacy notices for information about how each organisation collects, uses your personal information and how long they keep it for in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):  

• Wokingham Borough Council - data protection
• Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - patient privacy notice

We are unable to accept urgent or emergency referrals or queries.

• If you are concerned that there is a risk to the life of a child or young person call 999. Otherwise, call the NHS on 111 and select ‘mental health’ for guidance or advice.
• To report safeguarding or non-health related concerns about a child or young person see our Child protection and family support pages.

If a disclosure is made in the referral which raises a safeguarding concern, it will be shared with the appropriate team, except in cases where it is relevant to the referral and being supported via other sources.

If consent given and referral criteria met, complete the hubs referral form.

Complete Emotional Wellbeing Hub referral form

If you need to submit supporting information send it to the hubs email address below.

You will receive an initial response within 5 working days, which will include a copy of the form.

Support to complete form

If you are unable to access or complete the referral form, please contact the Emotional Wellbeing Hub or ask your child's school for support.