Developed by the same team who created Star Wards, CAMHeleon celebrates and promotes Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) ward best practice and the things that really make a positive difference to young people, identifying small changes that have a big impact. Its overall objective is to support ward staff in enabling young people to really make the most of this time away from their usual lives.
There are 9 themes for CAMHeleon and the themes spell out ‘colourful’. The nine themes are:
- Caring Relationships
- Opportunity and Expression
- Leisure and Therapeutic Activity
- On and Off the Ward
- Understanding
- Relational and Physical Safety
- Family and Friends
- Unique Recovery Journeys
- Learning and Growth
Pegasus Ward, a general adolescent acute service, launched their CAMHeleon project eight weeks ago and have worked hard in a short space of time to create an action plan along with implementing the 45 planned improvements to the service.
As a result a number of initiatives have been introduced into the service, these include:
- An ‘All about me wall’ featuring photos and details of staff interests to help build caring relationships.
- Communication white board door signs to empower young people to lead on communication.
- Establishing relationships with external providers for young people to continue their hobbies whilst in hospital, e.g. scouts, cadets, horse riding, football clubs etc.
- Establishing a fortnightly family forum to allow peer family support and a space for learning.
- The creation of a brand new sensory snug.
Stacey Burgess, Pegasus Ward Manager, said: “Working through the CAMHeleon project has brought the Pegasus team even closer together in their joint goals to provide the best service for our Young People.
“It has been enriching for staff to be able to make a difference on another level. Being able to share this with our young people, has been the best reward with them all getting stuck in and showing off all the hard work they have also put in.”
On 30th November, Pegasus opened the ward up to community teams, other CAMHS services, local LGBTQ+ charities, families and carers to come and celebrate the accreditation and see the showcase of achievements.
The young people on the ward raised money from arts and crafts that they have been working on which they plan to use on group leave to celebrate the big achievement.
Stacey added: “We were absolutely thrilled to welcome everyone to Pegasus and celebrate alongside us. The highlight of the party was the young people’s homemade pizzas. Hats off to the chefs!”
Ali Curtis, Cygnet’s CAMHS Nursing Lead, said: “Stacey became Ward Manager on Pegasus at the end of June and has driven the CAMHeleon accreditation. Stacey understands the importance of co-production and she has worked so hard with her team and the young people to achieve CAMHeleon accreditation in such a short period of time! We are so proud of what Stacey and Pegasus have and continue to achieve!”
Congratulations to Stacey, the ward team and all the young people on Pegasus Ward for this fantastic and very ‘Colourful’ achievement. You should all be very proud.