Information for children and young people

Lots of information and answers are provided via the Children First for Health website.

There you can learn about the hospital itself and the wards you may be visiting.

Dorset County Hospital pages
About Children First for Health

Children First for Health is an interactive guide to life and health which provides children and young people with:

  • quality, regularly reviewed health information and news;
  • engaging information about what to expect in hospital;
  • information about individual hospitals;
  • a safe forum for sharing experiences.

Children First for Health is based at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. It was established in 2001 and now receives millions of hits each month from around the world.

Mental Health Services for Children & Young Adults

We work with families and individual young people who have concerns of an emotional, behavioural or psychological nature.

Families or young people seeking help can discuss this initially with their GP, School Doctor, Paediatrician, Social Worker, Educational Psychologist, School Nurse or Health Visitor. These are the professionals who refer families and individual young people to our service and are best able to advise as to whether or not we are the right service to help with their concerns.

CAMHS clinics

We have two main centres in West Dorset where groups of professionals with a range of training and skills work with young people and their families.

The Children’s Centre
Damers Road
Dorchester DT1 2LB

Telephone: 01305 255705.

Connections
48 Lynch Lane
Weymouth DT4 9DN

Telephone: 01305 762810.

We have access to a Tier 4 CAMH service providing intensive support at:

The Maple Intensive Support Service for Young People
Dorset Health Care Trust
Poole Community Health Clinic
Shaftesbury Road
Poole.

Telephone: 01202 584600.

We also have other outpatient clinics across the rest of West Dorset.

The team

Our team includes:

  • Consultant Psychiatrists
  • Nurse Therapists
  • Clinical Psychologists
  • Psychotherapists
  • Family Therapists
  • Social Workers
  • Secretaries

These different clinical specialities allow us to offer a range of individual treatments depending on the needs of the young person or families.

Other services

Maple Service

The Maple Service is a Tier 3/4 inter–agency provision offering a specialist resource to young people, families and carers across the county of Dorset.

Adolescent Inpatient Unit, Pine Cottage

Pine Cottage is a 4 bed adolescent inpatient unit with additional day places for young people aged between 12 and 18 years who are suffering from acute and severe mental health problems.

Looked After Children Service, Connections

We have a specialist service based at Lynch Lane Weymouth working with the emotional and behavioural problems of looked after children. This is a holistic and needs–led service which aims to provide a fast track therapeutic service to any young person in need.

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