Paediatric Mental Health Team (PMHT)
Main Address
- Whittington Hospital
Magdala Avenue
London - N19 5NF
We are a multi-disciplinary child and family mental health liaison team working across the Whittington Hospital. We work with babies, children and young people up to the age of 18 and their families and networks.
Who we see:
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babies admitted to the neonatal unit and their families and networks to offer introduction, screening for psychological difficulties and attachment issues plus consultation and brief interventions
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children, young people with persistent physical or functional symptoms and long-term health conditions and their families and networks for assessment and interventions
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children and young people coming to the A & E department in mental health crisis for rapid therapeutic assessment and safe discharge planning
Our team includes child psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurses, family therapists and trainees.
Client Groups
Long term conditions and medically unexplained symptoms.
Many children in paediatric care, especially those with life-limiting illnesses or chronic disorders – for example asthma or diabetes – experience psychological and developmental difficulties. Children with epilepsy are four times more likely also to have a mental disorder.
Parents of under 5s with severe feeding and sleeping disorders often require mental health management beyond medical investigation and treatment of the child.
Persistent medically unexplained symptoms at any age are common in paediatric practice and require careful liaison between paediatrics and mental health in order to avoid prolonged or recurrent hospital admissions.
Children who have a parent, guardian or sibling who is a seriously ill patient at the Whittington Hospital may also be referred to the team.
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For NICU: Monday-Friday 9am to 5pm
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For liaison and ward patients: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm with two evening clinics
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For patients in crisis, we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
The role of the liaison team is to support hospital services and it does not take direct referrals from GPs. Therefore referral to the service is by hospital staff only.
However, if a child is already a paediatric patient at the Whittington and the GP feels that a behavioural or emotional problem may be related to the child's ongoing medical condition, they should approach the consultant paediatrician for advice.
Otherwise health, education and social care professionals should refer children and young people with mental health problems to their local Child and Adolescent Mental Heath Service.
Last updated24 Jul 2026