Information for referrers Corner House Deaf Child& Adolescent In-patient Unit Building 8 Springfield University Hospital Glenburnie Road, SW17 7DJ Tel: Fax: Minicom: Corner House Deaf Child& Adolescent In-patient Unit Building 8 Springfield University Hospital Glenburnie Road, SW17 7DJ Tel: Fax: Minicom:

Corner House Vision A future in which d/Deaf* young people with mental health problems have the same opportunity as other citizens to participate in and contribute to hearing and Deaf communities. Corner House is a national six bedded specialist assessment and treatment unit for Deaf children and adolescents aged between 8 and 17 years old with severe and complex emotional and psychological problems. * d/Deaf – definition ? Who comes to Corner House? Deaf children and young people with anxiety, depression, psychosis, neurodevelopmental problems and other emotional/behavioural problems.

Referral to Corner House We are a national service funded by NSCT (National Specialist Commissioning Team) and we accept referrals from within the UK. Referrals can be made by a range of sources including Child & Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS), Community Pediatricians, Audiologists, Social Services, Schools for the Deaf, Hearing Impaired Units, GP’s and National Deaf Child and Family Outreach Services. We encourage telephone contacts so that you can discuss potential referrals with us. A referral form needs to be completed and sent/faxed to us at the unit. Although the clinical care given whilst in Corner House is funded by NSCT, the travel to our unit is not. This means that you will have to think about how the family will get to Corner House. We can help you plan this and give you further information. Assessment When the referral is accepted an assessment appointment is offered at the unit. If the young person and their family live a considerable distance away from the unit we can meet with them nearer to their home. The initial assessment may include more than one meeting with the child/ young person and their families and a visit to their school may be arranged. A day visit will be arranged for the child/young person and their family to look around the unit and meet the staff from Corner House. Referral paper (photo, clip, link) ?

Admission We encourage the child/young person to come to the unit for an overnight stay before they are admitted for the full week. However, we have a flexible, individual approach when working with children/young people in that some come to the unit as day patients and others come for part of the week only. Each child/young person has their own bedroom and will share one of two bathrooms. We encourage the child/young person to bring in personal items, e.g. photos, posters, bedding to make their bedrooms more comfortable. They share dining and living room areas and have access to the garden. The children/young people are supervised at all times. The unit is fully staffed 24 hours a day and nurses are awake all though the night. Length of Stay This will be determined by the need of each young person. The average stay is three to four months but some children/young people might stay longer.

Discharge Prior to discharge each child/young person will have a ‘discharge case conference ‘ where the young person, family, Corner House staff, and other professionals involved with that young person will meet to discuss future plans for the child/young person and their family. In many instances, the child/young person will be referred to the national Deaf Child & Family Outreach Service which can offer ongoing outpatient work to the young person and their family.

Rules We expect all children/young people and their families to respect our rules so that we can provide a safe, secure place for young people and staff so that they can live and work in a respectful way. We have four main rules: Co-operation, Respect, Involvement and Responsibility. These imply that the child/young people are to work with staff, become involved with the therapeutic programme, respect staff, peers and property and to aim to be responsible in reflecting about themselves and others. Violence or threats of violence and/or bullying is not permitted. Verbal abuse, including that of a sexual and racial nature is not acceptable. We ask that each child/young person respects their physical environment and does not act in a destructive way towards the building, furniture, and equipment contained within the unit. Anyone that does cause damage will be asked to pay a contribution towards its repair or replacement. Please do not bring alcohol, drugs into the unit.

Clinical Care During the assessment process we have a number of multidisciplinary meetings to help plan the best clinical care for the child/young person during their stay. Within the first week of admission there is a Goal Setting Meeting, which is an opportunity to discuss the aims of the admission. Regular care planning case conferences will take place at 6 week intervals. On admission a Key Worker/Nurse is assigned to the child/young person and they will meet with the child/young person regularly and will liaise regularly with family members and external professionals. The Key nurse and other members of the multi-disciplinary team will form a core team to discuss and plan more detailed aspects of the child’s/young person’s assessment, therapy and care. It is important for us to establish good working relationships with the child/young person’s local services e.g. Education and Social Services as many of the young people we work with have complex difficulties. Therefore, it is important to us and the young person if you can attend the meetings where we discuss their clinical care.

Complex Assessments Most of the children/young people have complex needs and difficulties. Admission to the unit can provide specialist, in-depth assessments in various areas. These include: Mental health Assessments Psychological Assessments Cognitive Assessments Occupational Therapy Assessments Speech & Language Assessments Educational Assessments Therapeutic Work The Unit has a Therapeutic Milieu in which a psychotherapeutic approach is used during the child’s/young person’s stay by all clinicians in the team at all times and this is made accessible to them via the specialist knowledge of issues relating to deafness, such as language and culture. There is a range of psychotherapeutic, cognitive, behavioural, educational, and creative therapies available.

Meetings The unit has various meetings throughout the week to discuss the care/needs of the child/young person. These include weekly clinical meetings for all staff whereby the children are discussed using multidisciplinary input. Weekly community meetings where the young people are encouraged to talk about how they are feeling about the unit and any other issues relating to the unit. Weekly core team meetings are held by the core team members to further discuss the progress of the child/young person and help to plan for the following week.

Our Team comprises of Deaf and hearing staff all using British Sign Language (BSL) and Sign Supported English (SSE). Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist Associate Specialist Registrar Senior Clinical Nurse Manager Senior Nurses Staff Nurses Child Mental Health Workers Clinical Psychologist Speech and Language Therapist Social Worker Occupational Therapist Family Therapist Lead teacher Teachers of the Deaf Teaching assistants The staff team

Therapeutic Work The Unit has a Therapeutic Milieu in which a psychotherapeutic approach is used during the child’s/young person’s stay by all clinicians in the team at all times and this is made accessible to them via the specialist knowledge of issues relating to deafness, such as language and culture. There is a range of psychotherapeutic, cognitive, behavioural, educational, and creative therapies available. Some of the interventions are offered in group formats and some are offered as individual work. All of the children/young people are expected to attend therapeutic groups, school and family therapy sessions. Specific interventions used within the unit include: Individual CBT, IPT and other formulation-based psychological work Community Group Family Therapy Psycho-educational and Therapeutic Parenting Work Social Skills Group Independent Living Skills Group Expressing Emotions Group Chill-out group (Anxiety Management Group) Cookery Groups House Keeping Groups

Advocacy Advocates are used in Corner House to support the children/young people. The aims of the advocates are to: Safeguard the rights of children and young people. Empower and protect them to make informed decision about their care and treatment. Support them to get their views heard. Represent the child’s view with the children/young people ‘s consent. Support them in finding solutions to issues which concern them. Feedback issues raised by children/young people to the service so that the service can be continually improved. Confidentiality Any information about a child or young person and their family is held as confidential and not disclosed to other individuals or agencies without their knowledge and, in most circumstances, their consent. There might be an exceptional circumstance in which information concerning actual or potential harm to children/young people need to be disclosed to the Child Protection Service. Team members will ensure that children and young people are kept fully informed and that their view are respected and considered.

School The school is managed by the Hospital and Home Tuition Team. It is based within the Corner House building. The young people all attend school during the school day and are taught by Teachers of the Deaf and those experienced with working with deaf children. (expand?) photo

MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFriday Get up, have breakfast Get up, have breakfast Get up, have breakfast 9.30—10.30 Lessons Break ArriveLessons 12.30– 2.00 Lunch and activity Lunch and activity Lunch and activity Go home Lessons 3.30—4.30 Group Choose activities Dinner After dinner Choose activities linked to care plan then bed Choose activities linked to care plan then bed Corner House Timetable Individual timetables will depend on a child or young person’s age, specific needs and attendance pattern (day patient, part week, full time). This outline timetable gives an idea of how the days are planned.

Family accommodation We have a family house near Corner House where parents and siblings can stay. This enables families to be involved in therapeutic work with our team. Some families stay one or two nights, others stay regularly for weekends. Each family has an individual plan.

How to refer to us? You can fill in a referral form online at forms/ Alternatively, you can fill in the attached referral form and send or fax it to us. Corner House Deaf Child & Adolescent In- patient Unit Springfield University Hospital, Building 5, Entrance 8 Glenburnie Road, SW17 7DJ Tel: Fax: Minicom: How to find us Insert photo?