Galaxy House

Galaxy House is a specialist NHS inpatient unit for children and young people with complex mental health needs. We are based at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and offer a safe, therapeutic environment where young people receive individualised care from a team of experienced professionals.

We care for young people up to the age of 18 who require specialist input that cannot be provided in the community. Many of the young people we admit to our unit have a combination of mental health, physical health, and neurodevelopmental needs.

About Galaxy House

At Galaxy House, we help young people with different mental health difficulties — like eating disorders, unexplained physical symptoms, or behaviours that can be hard to manage (for example, self-harm). How long someone stays depends on their individual needs. We work closely with families and local teams to make sure everyone feels supported, and to plan for going home when the time is right.

Galaxy House is proud to be accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, through both the Quality Network for Inpatient CAMHS (QNIC) and the Quality Network for Eating Disorders (QED).

We have a big, friendly team that works together to support young people. This includes:

• Mental health nurses, children’s nurses, learning disability nurses, and nursing assistants
• Clinical and counselling psychologists
• Occupational therapists (who help with everyday skills)
• Psychotherapists and family therapists
• Dietitians and physiotherapists
• Psychiatrists (mental health doctors)
• Teachers and teaching assistants from our on-site school

Galaxy House has 12 bedrooms (all single rooms, two with en-suites), shared living and dining spaces, therapy rooms, and outdoor areas. There’s also a small on-site school with two classrooms run by the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital School, following the National Curriculum from 9.30am to 3.15pm, Monday to Friday.

• Service Lead
  Lesley Dawson
• Ward Manager
  Nicola Clibbens
• Lead Consultant Psychiatrist
  Dr Rachel Elvins
• Lead Occupational Therapist
  Kirsten Taylor
• Consultant Clinical Psychologist
  Dr Paul Abeles
• Lead Teacher
  Pip Kehoe
• Medical Secretary
  Melanie Burgoyne-Frankland
• Senior / Mental Health Administrator
  Matt Abbott

If you have any questions or worries about you or your child’s care, you can contact the team at galaxyhouse.admin@mft.nhs.uk.

You can also contact MFT PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) at pals@mft.nhs.uk if you want extra support or to make a complaint.

If you are a young person staying in Galaxy House, this is what a typical day might look like for you (This is an outline of a typical day, though this can be different for each young person.  You will be given your own individual timetable each week).

We know it is important to have things to do over the school holidays, so we plan a holiday timetable with activities to do both on and off the ward.  These include animal therapy, art projects, music activities, trips to the museum, quizzes and games.

Here’s an example:

Every Tuesday morning at 9:15am we have a community meeting. This is a chance for everyone on the ward to get together, share ideas, and talk about what’s happening that week.

Group Sessions and Activities

There are lots of groups to get involved in at Galaxy House — some help you learn new skills or manage feelings (like DBT or life skills), and others are just for fun!

We do yoga, art, pamper sessions, music, games, gardening, and film nights.

Sometimes, we go off the ward together — we’ve done things like laser quest or going to the cinema.

If you have a specific interest or activity you would like to do, please let us know.

You’ll have planned sessions with different members of the therapy team. They’ll explain who they are, what your sessions will focus on, and when they’ll happen — these will be on your timetable.

Music@Galaxy House

This is a project led by music therapist and producer Jon Hall from Outsider Music (OM) together with Dr Paul Abeles, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, funded by RMCH charities. It delivered a platform for young people to develop and showcase (publicly and/or privately) their creative and positive ‘selves’; and to explore if and how these life experiences and benefits lay foundation for engagement and improvement in other important life spheres, not least their mental health & wellbeing.