Child and Adolescent Crisis Services

We provide support for children and young people up to 18 years old living in Bolton, Wigan, and Greater Manchester, who are experiencing a mental health crisis. Our team provides mental health assessments and interventions to help children and young people to prevent the need for admission to hospital or support their transition back home after an inpatient stay.

Do you need urgent support?

For urgent mental health support, for example if you feel mentally unsafe or severely distressed, you can quickly and easily access support by calling NHS 111 and selecting mental health option 2.

It’s available 24/7, free of charge, for people of all ages, and you can call for yourself or someone else. Find out more about NHS 111 Mental Health and other urgent support services.

In emergency situations where there is an immediate risk to life, you should call 999 or go to A&E. This includes if someone has taken an overdose.

For urgent care and deep cuts/burns, you can call NHS 111, visit 111.nhs.uk online, or contact your GP.

Wigan and Bolton CAMHS Crisis Team

Our Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) Crisis Team is provided by friendly mental health professionals who offer intensive support through an “assertive outreach model”, to young people up to the age of 18 across Wigan and Bolton. The team can offer support for 72 hours up to 6 weeks.

We offer three types of support:

1. Rapid Response (Short-Term Help)

  • We’ll help you stay safe, feel less overwhelmed, and avoid going to A&E when possible.
  • Help is provided within 4 hours of being referred.
  • Support lasts for up to 72 hours in the community.

What we offer:

  • Risk assessment
  • Immediate, collaborative safety planning
  • Mental state assessment
  • Promoting self-management techniques
  • Skills development to cope with distress and promote recovery
  • Psychoeducation for mental health conditions
  • Signposting to other services for emotional support
  • Parent and Carer support.

2. Home Intensive Treatment (Up to Six Weeks)

Support in your home or community to help prevent the need for a hospital admission, or to settle back into the community after a stay on an inpatient mental health ward.

What we offer:

  • Ongoing Risk assessment and management
  • Regular mental health reviews
  • Therapeutic skills based interventions to support recovery
  • Help with medication and physical health needs
  • Family and carer support
  • We work with other services to make sure ongoing support is in place including schools, doctors, and social workers to give you the best care.

3. Paediatric Hospital Support

We will provide a mental health assessment if you have been admitted to a paediatric (children’s) ward. We support with developing a discharge plan to ensure appropriate and safe follow-up arrangements are in place and relevant referrals for additional support are completed where needed.

We will offer you:

  • Risk assessment and safety planning
  • Mental health reviews
  • Discharge planning and coordination
  • Advice and follow-up care, including referrals to other services to make sure appropriate care is in place to support your discharge from the ward.
  • Emotional support
  • Parent and carer support.

Our hours

We're open 8am – 10pm, 7 days a week (including holidays)

Referrals

We accept referrals from:

  • NHS 111
  • Children and Adolescent Mental Health Teams (CAMHS) and other NHS mental health teams
  • Greater Manchester Assessment and Inreach Centre (GMAIC)
  • All Age Mental Health Liaison Teams
  • Safe Zones
  • Other health and social care system partners

Referrers can contact their local CORE CAMHS team for referral information or contact 111 out of hours.

Our Day Service (Junction 17, Prestwich)

Our Day Service at Junction 17 is available for young people who need extra support but don’t need to stay in hospital.

Read more about Junction 17 and our Day Service. 

External support and resources

Kooth: Young people’s Counselling and Emotional Wellbeing Support

Kooth is for young people aged 11 to 18 and offers a variety of resources, including: A live chat function that allows young people to contact a qualified counsellor, chat forums with other young people, crisis information and self-help resources.  

Young people can sign up by visiting: www.kooth.com

Papyrus: Prevention of Young Suicide

Support available to young people (under the age of 35) who are at risk of suicide. They operate ‘Hopeline UK’ to give people a safe space to talk through anything that is happening which could be impacting on a persons’ ability to stay safe.  

42nd Street – Online Support for Young People

Support and advice for young people’s emotional health and wellbeing. They offer a range of one to one support as well as groups and creative projects. You can access support face-to-face or online.

Please note, 42nd Street no longer accept referrals from any professionals except for social care professionals, and any parents/carers will need to support their children to self-refer.

As a patient

As a service user, relative or carer using our services, sometimes you may need to turn to someone for help, advice, and support. 

Find resources for carers and service users  Contact the Trust