Process to Secure New Contract for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Now Live

NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin (NHS STW) has announced the launch of the procurement process for a new Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) contract. This initiative, while led by the NHS STW, will be jointly commissioned with Local Authorities, reflecting an integrated approach to the commissioning of mental health services for children and young people (CYP).

The current CAMHS Service, also known as BeeU, supports children and young people up to 25 with emotional wellbeing and mental health, offering neurodevelopmental assessments for autism (ages 5-18) and ADHD (ages 6-18), community eating disorder services (ages 0-18), and online support via Kooth (ages 11-25). Specialist online services are also available through Healios.

As part of the joint commissioning responsibilities of NHS STW and the local authorities, the CAMHS service is now being reprocured. To support this, a full review and redesign was carried out to develop a more effective, sustainable model that improves access, experience, and outcomes for local children, young people, and their families.

In addition, extensive engagement took place throughout 2024, followed by a six-week engagement exercise January to March 2025, inviting children, young people, parents, and carers, along with mental health professionals and other stakeholders to share their views and help shape future improvements.

In response to this engagement, almost 500 people responded which included a mixture of online survey responses and discussions facilitated by trusted adults who had a relationship with children and young people.

All the insight gathered has been summarised in to the engagement report  and has been used to develop the final service specification.

Gemma Smith, Director of Commissioning at NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, expressed gratitude to all participants: “Hearing directly from our children and young people and their families is crucial. It is so important for us to capture those views and opinions from people; particularly those who have experience of the services and have tried to or are using the current CAMHS services.

“The experiences and suggestions from children and young people and their families or carers helps us to understand what is working well, where the challenges are and how we can work to improve. This feedback shapes the future service to meet the changing needs of local people.”

The competitive procurement process aims to identify providers who can best meet the needs of our local children and young people. NHS STW remains committed to securing the best possible service and ensuring good access for our patients.

To view the engagement report and frequently asked questions (FAQs) for the CAMHS procurement process, please click here.