How we work
This section explains how the following services work separately. It also explains how they sometimes work together: Primary Care services, Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs), and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS/CAMHS-ID).
Primary Care
Primary Care services are the first point of contact when a parent or guardian is worried about their child’s development. Many children with delays in their development can have their needs looked after by their local Primary Care services.
Primary Care services include:
- Community Health Doctors
- Occupational Therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Psychology
- Public Health Nursing
- Social Work
- Speech and Language Therapy
Primary Care services work as multidisciplinary teams. A team member will treat the child focusing on the area they studied in, for example, speech and language therapy or occupational therapy.
The teams will have agreed ways for working together and for communication. They will work with the family and child to meet their identified needs. They use care and support plans for each discipline, or when working together, they use a joint care and support plan.
Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs)
CDNTs support the needs of children and young people with a wide range of disabilities including intellectual disability, physical disability, sensory disability, and autism.
CDNTs typically include:
- Children's Disability Network Manager (CDNM)
- Administrators
- Occupational therapists (OTs)
- Psychologists (Psych)
- Physiotherapists (PTs)
- Social Workers (SWs)
- Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs)
Teams may also have access to:
- Behaviour Support Specialists
- Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS)
- Dietitians
- Early Years Practitioners/ Early Years Nurse Practitioners (EYPs/EYNPs)
- Family Support Workers (FSWs)
- Therapy Assistants (TAs)
They work as interdisciplinary teams. This means that they work together and share information, decision-making, and goal-setting. They have common ways of working together and communicate with each other regularly to keep everyone up to date.
The family is seen as part of the team. Together, they create a a support plan called an Individual Family Support Plan (IFSP).
A child’s access to CDNT services will be based on their needs, so your child does not need a diagnosis (an identified health condition) to access a CDNT's services.
How CDNTs work with families in Dublin South, Kildare, and West Wicklow
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Intellectual Disability (CAMHS-ID)
CAMHS supports all young people (up to the age of 18) who are having mental health difficulties that affect their ability to take part in day-to-day activities.
CAMHS-ID is a specialist mental health service for children and teenagers who have a moderate to profound intellectual disability and a moderate to severe mental disorder.
The CAMHS-ID team aims to complement the services provided by Primary Care services, CDNTs, and community CAMHS.
The CAMHS-ID team will support children and young people for a limited time. As the child's or young person's mental health improves, the CAMHS-ID team will discharge back to Primary Care and/or the CDNT with a recovery plan for staying well and how to access the team again if needed.
CAMHS-ID teams are multidisciplinary teams. They can include:
- Administrators
- Clinical Nurse Specialists
- Occupational Therapists
- Psychiatrists
- Psychologists
- Social Workers
- Speech and Language Therapists
Working in consultation
Primary Care services and the CDNTs work in consultation and a child may transfer from one service to the other, if needed.
Sometimes, Primary Care services or the CDNT will not have the expertise needed to support a child with very complex needs. If that happens, specialist services will support and work with Primary Care services and the CDNT to support this child.
The CAMHS/CAMHS-ID service aims to complement the work of Primary Care services and CDNTs. There are various protocols (sets of rules) and meetings which help joint working across CAMHS/CAMHS-ID, Primary Care services, and CDNTs.