Transition from children to adult services

We understand that moving away from doctors, nurses and therapists that you know will be different, but hopefully by getting involved in the transition process early, it will help you feel more confident, prepared and involved in the move.

When you were younger, your parents/carers may have been making decisions and managing your health condition, but during the transition process we aim to help you become more independent in managing your own health condition.

During transition, your healthcare team will start planning the support you and your family will need to manage your health condition. As you grow older, that support may be from the health, education or social care services. All the professionals involved in your care should be talking with each other and yourself, to ensure your care needs are met.

If you are over 14 years old and your healthcare team has not discussed transition with you, please mention it during your next appointment.

To start thinking about transition and gaining independence you may want to:

• Have a look at the Ready, Steady, Go programme or alternative transition programmes offered by your healthcare team. Visit the Ready, Steady, Go programme website (opens in new window) >
• Talk to your healthcare professionals (alongside your parents) in appointments and ask your own questions. You may want to make note of the questions you wish to ask during your appointment to help you remember them. For example:
  • What is the plan for my transition?
  • How do I prepare for transition?
  • How will my care change?
  • Can my friends or family still come to appointments with me?
  • Who will I see during my appointments?
     
• Start to learn more about your medical condition - What is it? How does it affect you? How can you explain it to family/friends?
   
• Learn about your medication - What is it called? When do you have to take it? What do they help with?
   
• Learn more about how your hospital appointments- How are they made? What do they do to help you? What things do you see them for? How do you rearrange appointments if you cannot attend?
   
• Start to learn about your hospital letters- What are they for? What do they tell you? How do your parents/carers store them? What to do if you think something in there isn't clear?

You can start to learn about all these things gradually, with the support of the people important to you and your healthcare professionals. You are not expected to understand/ be fully confident with everything straight away, as the process of transition into adult services happens over many years.

Your parents/carers have probably always planned your appointments and brought along the things you might need for it. As you get older, start to think about this yourself, as you move to adult services.

Things to consider when preparing for your hospital appointment:

• Plan ahead of your appointment
  • Do you want to bring a family member or support person?
  • How are you getting to hospital?
  • Do you know where to go once at the hospital?
     
• Things to bring to your appointment:
  • Hospital letter/card (if you have one).
  • Contact details of your health professionals or specialists.
  • A list of questions or issues you want to talk about.
  • Information about your current medication.
  • Any medical or personal supplies you may need.
  • Knowledge about your condition, past procedures and surgeries, any other medical problems you have and your hospital passport.
     
• ​​​​​​​Taking charge during your appointment:
  • Make sure you keep track of your appointments on your phone or calendar.
  • Make a list of all the team members at the clinics you visit.
  • If you realise an appointment time is not convenient for you, it is your responsibility to book a new appointment time.
  • If you miss an appointment, it will be your responsibility to rebook.
  • Follow-up after two weeks if you have not heard about thing you discussed during your visit, for example, test results, referrals, or new tests bookings.
     

As you get older, rules about who can make decisions about your health change. The person or team giving you care may talk about consent and confidentiality. Watch this video about medical treatment and consent: a guide for young people from Derbyshire Family Health Service (opens in new window) >

This video was produced by Derbyshire Community Health Service NHS Foundation Trust

Your appointments may be held different locations, depending on who you are going to see and what you are going to see them for. Some appointments may need to be at your General Practitioner (GP) or some might be at the hospital, which might be called either "primary care" or "secondary care". Access the Healthtalk website for information on the different between "primary care" and "secondary care" (opens in new window) >

Access Healthtalk website for information on booking a GP appointment? (opens in new window) >

If you are a parent/carer who will be leading/helping on your young person’s transition into adult care, you can download an easy read guide available on the Well Child website (opens in new window) >. The website has a section which covers topics to enable you to support your young person with the move and can help you to explain transition to young people with learning disabilities.

If a young person has a life limiting or complex condition, transition to adult services may include agencies working together. Download transition to adult services: A guide for parents (opens in new window) > for further information.

When growing up and becoming independent you may want to go away from home to stay with friends or on a school trip. Your parents might have done all the planning for you in the past, but you should think about some of the planning as your get older.

When planning, consider:

• what might be different (routine, equipment)
• who will support you
• medication
• safety
• information about yourself and your condition.

For further information about becoming independent, please use the resources below:

• Access Derby City Council website for information about living independently (opens in new window) >
   
• Access Derbyshire Local Offer website for information on independent living (opens in new window) >

Each area has a local offer website with information on local services to help you prepare for adulthood, such as living independently, money and education.

• Access Derby City Council website for Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND) Local Offer information (opens in new window) >
   
• Access Derbyshire Local Offer website (opens in new window) >
   
• Access Staffordshire Connects website (opens in new window) >

Learning disability annual health checks

Young people with learning disabilities are entitled to an annual health check by their GP when they are 14 years and over. This is a great opportunity to get to know your GP better before moving to adult services. These health checks may also cover things your hospital team do not assess every time you visit.

Watch a video about annual health checks for people with learning disabilities (opens in new window) >
(This video was produced by NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB)

Health passport

To help support patients with learning disabilities, we have introduced a hospital passport, which patients can complete and bring to the hospital, to ensure we are delivering them the right care.

Download My Hospital Passport template [pdf] 856KB (opens in new window) >

If you need any support or require further information about transition, please speak to your nurse or doctor, or contact the transition nurse on 01332 785661 or UHDB.transitionteam@nhs.net.