
If you are living with a long-term health condition, your nurses and doctors may start to talk about transition from the age of 11 years old. The services you move to might be in the same hospital, a different hospital, within the community or with your GP.
To help your transition run smoothly, we will talk to you and your parents/carers about your transition plan a few years before you move to adult hospital services. We will cover topics like growing up, gaining independence, your health condition, work and education plans and any support or advice you might need during this time.
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:
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.
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.
At UHDB, we have worked with HealthZone UK to produce a “Transition app” that provides information about the transition process. The content of the app has been written and collated by our transition team alongside young people from our youth forum at UHDB.
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 785428 or UHDB.transitionteam@nhs.net.