Acute Inpatient Unit for Young People

Programme Areas

Crisis / acute, Mental health

Programme Type

Acute services

Regions

MidCentral, Tairāwhiti, Hawkes Bay, East Auckland, South Auckland, West Auckland, Central Auckland, Hutt, Waikato, Taranaki, Northland, Wellington, Lakes, North Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Whanganui, Wairarapa

Age Groups

Child / Tamariki, Youth / Rangatahi

Referral Types

DHB clinical services

Referral Process

Referrals to the Child and Adolescent inpatient unit are accepted from the specialist CAMHS teams in the region, or private child and adolescent psychiatrists.

In crisis, some young people are seen in Emergency Departments. All after hour admissions are processed through the on call child and adolescent psychiatrist covering CFU.

Description

The Child and Family Unit operates utilising a bio-psycho-social model and a strengths approach to support young people and their whānau during an acute period of illness.

There are two separate units where young people experiencing mental distress may be admitted into:

• There is a 7-bed High Dependency Unit. Each young person has a single room and there is a higher level of nursing care within this ward due to the acute nature of presentations of people admitted.
• There is a general Open Adolescent Unit which has 11 beds. Some of the bedrooms are shared rooms, for up to 2 people. School is attached to this unit and it is expected that young people engage in the recovery based programme that operates to support their wellbeing. 

The unit provides 24/7 observation and assessment of all young people admitted. Treatment decisions are made in collaboration with young people and whānau/families. There will be close liaison with community specialist teams in order to ensure transitions into and out of the service are managed appropriately.