Infant Mental Health Service

Referrals

We support infants referred up to their third birthday living in Lanarkshire with their parents or kinship carers.

We accept referrals from Health Visitors and Family Nurses or from Nurseries/Early Learning Centres, the Maternity and Neonatal Psychological Intervention Team (MNPI) and the Perinatal Mental Health Team (PMHT). If the Health Visitor or Family Nurse, Early Years/MNPI or PMHS Practitioner together with the parent(s)/carer(s), wish to access our service, they should complete an Request for Assistance to Infant Mental health Team Form.

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Referral Criteria

Health Visitors and Family Nurses, Early Years / MNPI / PMHT Practitioners will be able to make referrals where the following criteria are met:

1. Infants aged 0 – 3^rd birthday at time of referral, living with their parents or in kinship care in Lanarkshire, who present with moderate to severe mental health difficulties or disorder requiring specialist mental health service input.
2. Infants will be regarded as having moderate to severe mental health difficulties if they are presenting with impairment/disturbance/concern in:
   1. EITHER (a) 5 or more indicators in 3 or more domains of the Lanarkshire Infant Mental Health Observational Indicator Set – interactive version / print version,
   2. OR (b) 4 or more IMH Observational Indicators in 4 or more domains,
   3. OR (c) 3 or more IMH Observational Indicators in all 5 domains of the pan-Lanarkshire IMH Observational Indicator Set [Relationship with Main Carer; Emotional; Cognitive; Sense of Self; Social Interaction]. This means their mental health difficulties are showing significant impact across a range of areas of emotional and psychological development and functioning.Where an infant’s presentation is close to but does not quite meet the above criteria with reference to IMH indicators (see 2 above), but meets all the other criteria (see 1 and 3 above), referrals will be considered on an individual case by case basis as to suitability for the service.
3. Parent(s)/carer(s) have concerns about the mental health/emotional wellbeing of the infant in their care, AND parent(s)/carer(s) want intervention to address difficulties and improve the parent–infant relationship

Where an infant’s presentation is close to but does not quite meet the above criteria with reference to IMH indicators, but meets all the other criteria (see 1 and 3 above), referrals will be considered on an individual case by case basis as to suitability for the service.

Where a referral does not meet the criteria for our service, signposting, advice and guidance are offered to the network around the infant.

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Infants not seen by the Infant Mental Health Service

1. Infants who are Looked After and Accommodated: the CAMHS CAYP Team specialises in working with infants who are Looked After and Accommodated and have moderate to severe mental health difficulties. Referrals of such infants should be made to the CAMHS CAYP Team.
   For more information see CAMHS web page.
2. Infants with parents with severe and/or enduring mental illness or mental health difficulties: the CAMHS Reach Out Team specialises in working with infants (and children and young people) with moderate to severe mental health difficulties who have parents with severe and/or enduring mental illness or mental health difficulties. Referrals of such infants should be made to the CAMHS Reach Out Team.
   For more information see CAMHS web page.
3. Neurodevelopmental conditions: the Neurodevelopmental Service specialises in assessing neurodevelopmental conditions. If an infant with signs of a neurodevelopmental condition is presenting with moderate to severe mental health difficulties, we would accept the referral to the Infant Mental Health Service. This would be appropriate where parents/carers also have concerns about their infant’s emotional well-being and/or the parent-infant attachment relationship. Where an infant is open to both services, we work closely with the Neurodevelopmental Service. If the only concern is in relation to a neurodevelopmental condition, the referral would normally be re-directed to the Neurodevelopmental Service. For more information see CAMHS web page.

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Professionals working with infants seen by the Infant Mental Health Service

As a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency team, we work in collaboration and partnership with other agencies involved with referred infants, alongside direct interventions with infants and their carers.  Partnership working is actively promoted within the Infant Mental Health Team as a mechanism for improving health and well-being outcomes for infants.

All infants accepted under the service referral criteria will have an infant mental health assessment, combined with consultation with the network to agree possible intervention for the parent-infant relationship and/or support for professionals/agencies.

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Support to identify infant mental health issues

Early identification is critically important in infant mental health.  The Infant Mental Health Team will work in conjunction with other professionals and agencies in Lanarkshire to provide education and guidance about the mental health issues of infants.  If you have concerns about an infant, please speak with the infant’s Health Visitor or Family Nurse.

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Infant Mental Health Observational Indicator Set

An Infant Mental Health Observational Indicator Set – interactive version / print version has been developed to support professionals working with infants to observe and identify indicators of mental health and concerns across different areas of development and functioning.

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Infant Mental Health Service Consultation and Advice Line

Health Visitors, Family Nurses, Social Workers and Early Years Practitioners may book an MS Teams consultation by submitting an Infant Mental Health Request for Consultation Form to: InfantMentalHealth.Admin@Lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk

The aim and purpose of the IMH consultation and advice line is:

• To provide quick and easy access to specialist initial advice and consultation about the mental health of individual infants
• To improve understanding of the presentation and development of an individual infant from an infant mental health perspective
• To assist in carrying out professional task and role in supporting/promoting the mental health of an individual infant through their work with the primary carer
• To assist in identifying whether to be concerned about the mental health of an individual infant
• To assist in identifying the level of concern about an individual infant (low, medium, high)
• To identify further questions/issues needing exploration in order to form a professional judgment about the nature or level of concern about an individual infant’s mental health
• To assist in identifying the appropriate intervention for the nature and level of mental health concern about an individual infant (e.g. ongoing input/monitoring/assessment by the practitioner; request for assistance to appropriate service/agency)
• To clarify whether appropriate for referral to the NHSL IMH Team or to CAMHS and if the latter to which CAMHS Team (CAMHS Reach Out; CAYP (Looked After); or Neurodevelopmental Service)

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Infant Mental Health Training

Introduction to Infant Mental Health Course for Professionals

A 10-week professional development course is delivered by NHS Lanarkshire in partnership with Human Development Scotland, to enhance the knowledge and skills of professionals working with infants in Lanarkshire, to promote infant mental health and development.

This course will assist you in working towards the vision set out in The Scottish Government / COSLA Early Years Framework: a renewed focus on 0-3 years as the period of a child’s development that shapes future outcomes.

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Other Infant Mental Health Training for Professionals, Workers and Volunteers

We provide bespoke infant mental health training to a range of professionals, workers and volunteers across Lanarkshire.

Additionally, NHS Lanarkshire CAMHS CAYP and Reach Out Teams deliver infant mental health training relevant to infants who are looked after and accommodated or infants of parents with severe and enduring mental health difficulties.

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