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Transition: moving into adult care
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Transition: moving into adult care
What is transition?
Transition is the process of preparing to move from children’s to adult services.
It is a gradual process that gives you and everyone involved in your care time to get ready and to discuss your healthcare needs as an adult. Transition helps you to become responsible for your care and make decisions about your care.
A transition plan such as Ready Steady Go will be used to gradually plan and prepare you for adult services. This usually starts when you are 13 or 14.
If you are over 14 and your team hasn’t mentioned transition to you yet, then ask them about it at your next appointment.
Why do I have to move?
You are becoming a young adult and need care from specialist adult-trained doctors and nurses. Adult services will be the best place for you to get the correct care.
Information:
As you get older you may also want to be cared for in a grown up environment, rather than in children’s departments and wards.
What will be different in adult services?
One of the main differences is the amount of independence you will be given. In the adult services the doctors and nurses will spend more time talking to you than your parents or carers. You may also choose to go to appointments alone.
Adult services also have more experience in talking about adult issues like employment, travelling and sexual health.
Where will I go and can I choose?
Part of the transition process is to look at where your ongoing healthcare needs can be met.
If you live outside Sheffield, your team will talk to you about your local adult services.
In emergencies
Patients aged 16 and over (except CAMHS patients) will only be seen in the Emergency Department at Sheffield Children’s Hospital in the following cases:
- You have ongoing care with a specialist team at Sheffield Children’s Hospital
- You have a transition plan in place preparing you for transition to adult services with further follow up planned at Sheffield Children’s Hospital
- You have not yet had your first appointment at adult services
Once you have attended your appointment at adult services you will be discharged from Sheffield Children’s Hospital. In an emergency you would then attend the Adult Emergency Department.
Patients under the CAMHS service are required to attend the adult emergency department from 16 years and above.
If you have any questions about where you should attend in an emergency please contact your specialist team.
Who can help me get ready?
Your healthcare team will give you the help and support to ensure you are confident and ready for the move to adult services.
They can help you by:
- Giving you greater control to look after your own healthcare
- Teaching you about your condition, treatments and medications and possible side effects or complications
- Starting to see you on your own for a short part of your appointment, working towards seeing you on your own for the whole clinic appointment
- Making sure you know who to contact if you have any concerns or want to make or change appointments
- Helping you understand how your condition may impact your lifestyle, future education or career plans
- Arranging for you to meet the teams at adult services who will be responsible for your care
- Visiting adult services with you so you can familiarise yourself with the adult setting
What if I am not ready?
We understand that you may have been attending Sheffield Children’s for many years and moving can feel daunting.
By talking about transition early, it allows plenty of time for you to ask questions and discuss any concerns. This should fully prepare you when the time comes to move to adult services.
There is no set time that is right for everyone and every young person is individual. Your doctors and nurses will have an idea when you are ready to move and you will be involved in that decision too.
Information:
Lots of support will be provided by your team.
Your family
Your parents or carers are important in looking after your health. They will remain important during transition and will help to support you.
Please understand that your parents or carers may find transition difficult. They are handing responsibility to you and this can be hard for many parents or carers. They will have worries of their own.
Try talking to them about how you feel about moving to adult services. You may find it helpful to talk to them about your feelings and to allow them to express their feelings too.
It is also worth discussing practical issues like how you will manage appointments, getting to clinics, collecting prescriptions and asking questions.
Youth Forum
Sheffield Children’s has a youth forum for young people aged 12 to 19. The forum works actively to help improve our services for young people. You may want to use your experiences to help other young people as well. To get involved email scn-tr.transitionteam@nhs.net
Transition team
Most of your discussions about transition will be with the doctors and
nurses in the services managing your care. Please feel free to ask them any
questions you have.
However Sheffield Children’s also has a specialist transition team, who
you may end up speaking to during your transition journey.
Contact us on 0114 305 3768 or email scn-tr.transitionteam@nhs.net
Young person support directory
For more information about mental health, finances, special needs and learning disability, lifestyle, relationships and sexual health, please visit our young person support directory.
Is something missing from this resource that you think should be included? Please let us know
Disclaimer
Please note: this is a generic information sheet relating to care at Sheffield Children’s NHS FT. These details may not reflect treatment at other hospitals. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical care. Always follow your healthcare professionals’ instructions. If this resource relates to medicines, please read it alongside the medicine manufacturer’s patient information leaflet. If this information has been translated into another language from English, efforts have been made to maintain accuracy, but there may still be some translation errors. If you are unsure about any of the guidance in this resource or have specific questions about how it relates to your child, always ask your healthcare professional for further advice.
Resource number: TRN1
Resource Type: Article
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