Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) Self Assessment Tool

Introduction

The CAMHS Self Assessment tool was developed for the National CAMHS Support Service (NCSS) by the Health and Social Care Advisory Service (HASCAS). It is used by most CAMHS Partnerships to help review and plan their priorities, investment and services.

Please note that to use the self assessment matrix (SAM) you need to be registered by your organisational lead as an organisation can only be registered once. If you have been registered for the SAM and are also registered for the Children’s Services Mapping then you will use the same password for both systems.

When should the Self Assessment Matrix (SAM) be completed?

The SAM can be completed online at any point during the year. Each year on the 31st March a 'snapshot' will be taken and used as the basis for the summary analysis for that year. If you want the summary analysis to include your most recent scores, then you should aim to complete the online SAM shortly before that date.

Who will have access to our SAM?

All Partnerships will have access to the anonymised regional and national summary information, but your individual service data will be available only to your Partnership and your RDW unless you choose to share your information. This facility to share the information outside your Partnership is only available to the designated organisational lead.

The option to share your information is designed to allow organisations the potential to share and learn from others progress. There are three options available:

• Information is viewable only by those registered as part of your own organisational SAM.
• Information is viewable by users in other organisations, but your organisation is not identified – only the region in which you are based is identified.
• Information is viewable by users in other organisations and your organisation is identified.

Support to use the SAM

If you would like support in using these tools, we can provide help either by phone, email, or up to half a day in person. You can also discuss with us the possibility of a support day in your region if more than 6 individuals require this. Contact ChiMat to request support.

If you are experiencing problems with your log-in name or password, please contact the helpdesk.

We welcome your feedback about your experience of using the tools so that we can continue to improve these. Please contact ChiMat with your feedback.

Guidance

Registering to use the SAM

An organisation can only register once to use the self assessment tool. The initial person registering will become the organisational lead.

The organisational lead must use an .nhs or .gov email address to register. If your organisation uses an alternative email address, please Contact ChiMat.

If your organisation has already registered, the name of the existing organisational lead will appear when you try and register your organisation.

As organisational lead you have authority to decide who within your organisation will be able to complete and view the information. There is no limit to the number of additional users you can add and there are no restrictions on email addresses. These people will be able to enter and edit data on behalf of the organisation. This may also be the person who will develop the initial Action Plan for discussion with colleagues.

Viewing rights should be made available for all others who you want to be able to see your self-assessment.

How to get going

Log in using the username and password you have been provided with. If you are registered to use more than one product eg CAMHS and PCT SAM, you will need to select the appropriate role.

The first page you will see once you have logged in is shown below (figure 1).

Additional users may be added by clicking on the link to the registration page in the left-hand menu on this page (figure 1).

Here you will see the main topic headings and a Red Amber Green (RAG) rating in the column labelled "status."

Figure 1

Select a topic heading to view the questions for that topic (figure 2).

Use the drop-down menu to choose the level for each item. The program will add up all your scores and add them to the summary sheet, automatically amending the RAG rating.

Figure 2

Use the 'Comments' box to record any notes you want to make about each of the indicators, how you came to any decisions and what evidence supports these decisions. These pieces of information will only be visible to the organisation itself and are, therefore, confidential.

You can either use your mouse to move between the fields or the 'Tab' key on your keyboard, which will take you from one text or drop-down menu to the next.

How the info buttons work

Click the "Click here to show help" to reveal the guidance notes for each item. These provide more detailed guidance on how you should assess your score. When you have read the guidance, click the guidance text and it will close the notes.

Carry Forward Actions

When you have answered all the questions you can go to the Carry Forward Actions page in the left-hand menu. This page allows you to select the items you need to work on in your action plan.

You should choose the items you wish to include in your action plan. This can be done either individually or by using the 'select all' option (figure 3).

Figure 3

Action Plan

The action plan records the items on which you would like to do further work, proposals for taking them forward and who is the lead. You can also prioritise your action points.

Printing

The Action Plan can be printed straight from your browser, or as a pdf.

Each standard of the Self Assessment is printable as a PDF file by opening the relevant standard and using the button at the bottom of the Self Assessment Summary page.