A student nurse who completed her second year placement on a ward within the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) has spoken of her joy after working within the service.

Alice Robinson worked on Seacole for three weeks, calling it a “wonderful placement” and insisting it was a “brilliant experience”. 

The 24-year-old said: “I actually worked on CAMHS as a Healthcare Assistant before it was moved from Fitzroy to Smyth. My experience wasn’t bad, but they needed to improve.”

“Since returning, I can honestly say I’ve seen so much improvement and they’ve really turned things around. Seacole was a wonderful placement and was a brilliant experience. I would probably go as far as to say it was my best placement yet.”

Alice insists all the staff were welcoming and were always trying to find her opportunities from which she could learn from.

She said: “Some people can feel a bit wary about working within CAMHS, but I felt 100 per cent comfortable. The team were fantastic to work with, they always had your back and my mentor – Liz Atkins – was so proactive and helpful.

“There’s always a small amount of uncertainty doing what I do, but that’s not CAMHS, that’s just the field of mental health unfortunately. But it’s good to remember that there are policies and procedures in place which are used to deal with any issues which may arise and as long as you have support from your team, you will be ok. Apply common sense, listen to your mentors and do your best. I literally cannot say a bad thing about the place.”

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