Transition to the young persons Diabetes service in Sheffield

Now you are nearly 16 years old it is time to begin the process of transition to the young persons diabetes service at the Northern General Hospital (NGH).

What is transition?

The term ‘transition’ is used to describe the process of transferring your diabetes care from the Children’s hospital diabetes team to the young persons diabetes team at the Northern General Hospital.

Preparing for transition clinics by the Children’s hospital diabetes team

We hold regular pre-transition clinics Northern General Hospital. You will be given an appointment for at least one of these clinics which gives you the opportunity to meet one of the diabetes specialist nurses for young people. If you are particularly worried about moving hospitals you can have several of these appointments from your 15^th birthday to help you to get to know the new nurses gradually.

Transition open evening at the Northern General Hospital

Each year we host an open evening at the Northern General Hospital to which all young people aged 15 to 16 years old are invited.

This is an opportunity for you to meet the young persons team, see the clinic surroundings, work out bus routes and so on with other young people who are going through the transition process. The evening is very informal, usually with pizza and snacks. Your parents and carers can come and join for the last 30 minutes to ask any questions they may have.

Transfer of diabetes care

Your last appointment with us at the Children’s hospital will be after you have turned 16. We will discuss about transition and agree on a suitable time after which you will be sent an appointment for the young persons clinic at the Northern General Hospital. Until you have attended that appointment you still contact the Children’s diabetes team with any concerns or questions, if you need to be seen in clinic urgently we can still see you.

The young persons clinic at the Northern General Hospital

The young persons diabetes clinic at the Northern General Hospital is held on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday afternoon of each month. The clinics are currently held at:

Diabetes & Endocrine Centre
Barnsely Road Entrance
Northern General Hospital
Barnsley Road
Sheffield
S5 7AU

Who will be there?

In the clinic there will be:

• A children’s doctor, or Dr Astha Soni
• An adult doctor, Dr Jackie Elliott and either Professor Simon Heller or Dr Adrian Scott
• There may also be children’s and, or, adult specialist registrars (doctors training to become diabetes specialists)
• There will be a children’s nurse, Sarah Hawnt
• A Diabetes Specialist Nurse for Young People, Vanessa Whitehead or Calre Foley who you will already have met

What will happen at the young person’s clinic?

The clinic is run in a very similar way to the children’s clinics. You are booked in, weighed and measured, blood pressure is checked then you have your HbA1c measured. You are given the result before you see the doctor.

Please bring all your blood glucose meters to the clinic as they are downloaded as usual using the Diasend system.

You will then be seen by one of the doctors, if you have a preference you can choose although this may mean your wait is slightly longer.

You can come to clinic by yourself, with a parent, sibling or friend. You can have part of the consultation alone and part with a relative or friend if you choose to.

When the consultation is finished you will have an agreed plan and will be told which of the nurses will be offering on-going support if necessary.

You will still need to have your annual checks such as urine and blood tests and eye checks. These become even more important as you get older.

What will happen if I go away to university or when I reach the age of 20?

Many people decide to keep their diabetes care in Sheffield even if they move away for university. They come to clinic in the holidays.

When you reach 20, you will move into a young adult clinic held by one of the adult diabetes specialists. This will either be at Royal Hallamshire Hospital (RHH) or the Northern General Hospital (NGH).

Who do I contact about my young persons clinic appointment?

You can ring the diabetes centre at the Northern General Hospital on 0114 271 4445.

How do I get to the Northern General Hospital?

The Northern General Hospital is easily accessible by public transport or by car to the Barnsley Road entrance. Several buses stop outside the hospital and there is a public services bus (H1) which runs every half an hour between the Hallamshire Hospital and Northern General Hospital sites. Public transport options can be found on the Travel South Yorkshire website or by calling Travelline on 0170 951 5151.

If you are travelling by car there are a limited number of parking spaces outside the Diabetes and Endocrine centre for 1 hour only. Further chargeable parking is available across the hospital site but be aware that it can get extremely busy at peak times