Stronger Together: Quality Initiative to Improve Collaboration between Coolock Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Children’s Disability Network Team

Quality initiative working on improving collaboration between both services aiming to:Ensure the needs of the service user remain central to ongoing service development Develop understanding of CAMHS and CDNT models of care Increase knowledge of each service’s access to care and threshold for acceptance Establish better communication at point of referral, ongoing care and discharge Work towards a connected and integrated service delivery model across both teams Reduce ambiguity and uncertainty for service users in need of our care Pilot project between CAMHS, CDNTs, General Practitioners (GPs) and schools focusing on: Improving service user pathway to appropriate care Improving the way CAMHS and CDNT engage with GPs and schools Increasing mutual understanding of practice and culture Enhancing communication and working relationships with external services Aims to address an identified gap in ongoing projects to develop integrated care Next Steps: Bring learning from this collaboration to new forums being established across DNCC paediatric services Increase joint working and joint parent education programmes Develop a more structured approach to shared learning and staff development across both teams Continue roll-out of GP and school engagement project Fostering a culture of collaborative working within our teams Maintaining access criteria but breaking down barriers to care Reviewing and changing the way we work to deliver a high quality service Maintain a strong vision for collaborative working in the Coolock area