Pathways to a child mental health service

The mothers of 46 children who had been assessed by staff from a child mental health service were interviewed about the process by which they had come to be referred. The sequence of contacts with agencies was described and children coming via different pathways compared. Contacts with school teaching staff, and general practitioners were commonly part of the pathway, and health visitors were an important group of carers for younger children. When children had had contact with general practitioners and health visitors they were likely to be referred directly to the mental health service, but school staff had mostly sought help from other agencies.