Change to Provider of MHST from 1st August 2025
From Friday 1 August 2025, the Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) covering West Berkshire, Reading, and Wokingham will be delivered by a new provider: Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BHFT).
New Contact Information (from Friday 1 August 2025)
There will be some changes in how you contact the MHST after 1 August.
If you need to get in touch with the MHST from 1 August, please use the following details: Email: CAMHSWestMHSTs@berkshire.nhs.uk
Phone: 0300 2473002
These contact details will only be available from Friday 1 August 2025.
Making a referral to MHST
This change in provider means that the current process for referring a child or young person to the MHST will change after Friday 25 July 2025.
You can continue to refer to the MHST via the BFfC online referral form up until 4.30pm on Friday 25 July 2025, after this date that process will no longer be in operation.
How to make a referral after Friday 25 July 2025
If you need urgent help for a child/young person (CYP) between 25 July and 1 August, follow this guidance: I need urgent help now | Children Young People and Families Online Resource
If there are urgent and significant mental health or risk concerns, but no medical treatment is required, support is available via NHS111. The service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for people who need help fast, but it is not an emergency. If necessary, NHS111 will refer to the locality CAMHS team for further support.
A young person should only be taken to A&E (or contact emergency services on 999) if they require urgent life-threatening emergency medical attention such as because they:
- have recently taken an overdose
- ingested harmful liquids
- cut themselves significantly (deep cut/s and/or bleed profusely)
- burns that are blistering/red
- have lost consciousness
For any routine referrals, please hold the referral until 1 August. BHFT’s website will be updated with the link to the new referral for the Reading MHST from that date. You can also find information and advice on the BHFT website: Mental and Emotional Health | Children Young People and Families Online Resource
Parent/carers will also be able to refer their child, or if the CYP is 16 and over, they can refer themselves by requesting a referral form via: CAMHSWestMHSTs@Berkshire.nhs.uk or by calling 0300 2473002.
If you have any questions about the new referral process or the transition more generally, please email: CAMHSSeniorLeadershipGroup@berkshire.nhs.uk
To learn more about what we do and how we may help you, see our guides:
More about us and our team
The teams consist of:
- Senior educational psychologists
- Primary mental health worker
- A specialist CAMHS practitioner
- Wellbeing outreach workers
- Educational mental health practitioners (EMHPs)
- Administrators
- Triage coordinator
Here’s more information about our service:
Our service is only available to children and young people who attend or are on roll at one of the following schools with emerging or mild to moderate emotional and mental health needs.
- Alfred Sutton
- Battle
- Blessed Hugh Faringdon
- Cranbury College
- Christ the King
- Churchend
- Coley
- English Martyrs
- Geoffrey Field Infants
- Geoffrey Field Junior
- Green Park Village
- Hamilton
- Holy Brook
- John Madejski Academy
- Katesgrove
- Maiden Erlegh Reading
- Manor
- Meadow Park
- Moorlands
- New Christ Church
- Oxford Road
- Palmer Academy
- Park Lane
- Prospect
- Ranikhet
- Reading College, up to 18 years (whole setting approach only)
- Reading Girls’
- Redlands
- Ridgeway
- St Mary and All Saints
- St Michaels
- Southcote
- The Wren
- UTC
- Whitley Park
- Wilson
We deliver a range of evidence-based interventions focused on mild to moderate anxiety, low mood and behaviour management.
This may include interventions such as:
Helping Your Child with Fears and Worries programme: an individual guided self-help intervention for parents of anxious children aged 12 and under
Webster-Stratton Incredible Years: an individual guided self-help parenting intervention for parents of primary aged pupils
Parent workshops e.g. Understanding Emotions, exam stress etc
Story Links to build positive relationships between parent and child
Worry management for children experiencing anxiety (Year 6 and above)
Graded exposure (facing feared situations step by step) for children with phobias and other anxiety difficulties (Year 6 and above)
Support for young people to explore and develop helpful coping strategies specific to improving low mood (Year 6 and above)
Group work to support mental health including:
- Worry Warriors
- Therapeutic story writing
- Mental health ambassadors
- Emotional regulation
The MHST also offers support to school staff by:
- Delivering training on various mental health topics
- Offering consultations (individual or group) where staff can think through their concerns or difficulties regarding students or class groups
- Working with staff to support students individually
- Supporting staff wellbeing.
- The Family Information Service provides additional resources and information about how to access further support.
- The Samaritans offer advice on how to help someone you’re worried about open up about their feelings – www.samaritans.org/shush.
- TellMi is the digital provider of mental health support in Reading, which the MHST often signposts towards. Young people can find TellMi via the app store (both Apple and Android). Referrals can be made for solution focused therapy at the following link: https://www.tellmi.help/therapy-referral
- Be Body Positive is an NHS funded resource to support young people, their parents and professionals with guidance around eating: https://bebodypositive.org.uk/.
- For parents of children at primary school: This leaflet provides simple advice and guidance to parents and carers about how to make conversations about their child’s feelings part of everyday conversation. You’re never too young to talk mental health – Anna Freud
- For parents of young people at secondary school: The teenage years are both exciting and challenging to parent and carers. It can be hard to know whether your child’s feelings and behaviour are normal or becoming a problem. This leaflet provides simple advice and guidance to parents and carers about how to make conversations about their teenager’s feelings part of everyday conversation. Talking mental health with young people at secondary school – Anna Freud
Educational Psychology Service
MHST works closely with colleagues from BFfC’s Educational Psychology Service (EPS) which also operates within Reading schools. For more details on the support the EPS provides, click the button below and then select the page for either parents/carers, or for professionals.