Young People’s Transition from Children’s Services to Adults’ Services

Our report looks into the experiences of young people and their parents/ carers in County Durham

Our aim was to find out more about young people’s experiences of transition and how aware they and their parents/carers were of the process (by transition we mean the process by which young people with additional needs move from Children’s Services to Adult Health and Social Care Services). We did this by carrying out a series of different engagement methods to gather their views and experiences, which included an online survey and face to face engagement with relevant groups. 

Recommendations

  •  Young people should be put at the centre of a well-planned and integrated transition process to ensure they remain engaged with health and social care providers
  • To ensure that the NICE Quality Standard is implemented a Transition Coordinator should be appointed and establish a multi-agency steering group that includes Adult Services
  • An integrated approach to commissioning services should be adopted jointly by Children’s and Adults’ Services
  • Children’s and Adults’ health and social care services should plan transition together, to ensure the young person’s transition is personalized to meet their needs
  • More information needs to be available and easily accessible-100% of respondents felt it would be a good idea to have information (e.g. leaflets or websites) about what to expect when a young person moves to Adults’ Services.
  • Opportunities for Primary Care to support young people - parents/carers were asked if nurses at their doctor's surgery helped with the young person's healthcare at home. Of those parents/carers whose young person had transitioned, only 25% said they had, which could provide an opportunity for primary care to support young people
  • The Queen’s Nursing Institute report ‘Transition of Care Programme’ highlighted that educators felt it was very important that young people’s transition should be taught within their teaching programmes

We go to half a dozen clinics and they are all talking about it in different ways

Downloads

If you need this information in a different format please contact us:

healthwatchcountydurham@pcp.uk.net

0800 304 7039

Download Report

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