英国儿童青少年心理健康服务（CAMHS）自杀风险转介：政策与实践背景评估

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry

Sec. Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry

Abstract

Aims and Method: We reviewed referrals mentioning suicidality to a Scottish CAMHS. Referrals were from January-June 2019 and 2022. We recorded referral reason and outcome and compared these to the National CAMHS Service Specification (2020). Results: Of 2753 referrals, 560 (20.34%) mentioned suicidality. Of these, 82.4% were accepted. The majority of those rejected were from outside the region, already in CAMHS, or provided insufficient information. The majority did not include any risk assessment (43.6%) or safety planning (67.7%). We identified lack of clarity in the National CAMHS Service Specification around the requirement for evidence of a serious mental illness and the meaning of "suicidal behaviours". Clinical implications: We require clearer language concerning "rejected referrals", better communication between CAMHS and referrers, improved pathways for referral re-direction, and to support referrers to assess risk and safety plan. We require clarity in national guidelines over where suicidal young people should be supported.

Keywords

CAMHS, policy, Rejected Referrals, Service specifications, Suicide

Received

23 April 2026

Accepted

17 September 2026

Copyright

© 2026 Moore, Salonia, Ali, Mann and Gilmour. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence:

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