Spotlight QI: Transition to Adult Services
Resources and case examples from the paediatrics community to improve the quality of care for young people as they move to adult health services.
How do we ensure high quality care for young people as they move from children’s to adult’s health services?
NHS England and NHS Improvement have recently commissioned the development of a core capabilities framework for the transition of young people into adult services led by Skills for Health, a not-for-profit organisation committed to the development of an improved and sustainable healthcare workforce across the UK, working in partnership with the Burdett National Transition Nursing Network and a steering group of key stakeholders including young people and parents.
The new framework aims to ensure young people remain engaged with their care and treatment to improve their healthcare experience and long term health outcomes by identifying and describing the core skills and knowledge that the healthcare workforce needs in order to deliver high quality, compassionate, personalised and developmentally appropriate healthcare for young people transitioning from children’s to adult physical and mental health services.
A draft framework is now available for consultation and you can share your feedback with the team through their ‘Transition of Young People into Adult Services Core Capabilities Framework Survey’ before 23rd August 2021 here.
In July 2021, the national UK children’s charity WellChild hosted a virtual Q&A about transition to adult services with a panel of WellChild nurses and experienced parents. A recording of the event is now available on the WellChild YouTube channel here.
The RCPCH also has case examples of good practice and resources on young people’s experiences of transition to adult healthcare services here.
Watch a webinar jointly hosted by RCPCH, Young People’s Health Special Interest Group and members of the Royal College of Physicians, which advises health professionals on providing developmentally appropriate care for young people transitioning to adult services below:
Examples of quality improvement work focussing on the transition of young people to adult healthcare services by teams participating in the RCPCH Diabetes QI Collaborative and Epilepsy QI Programme include:
- Podcast with Jo Kitchen and Amanda Grayson, Patient Advocates at the Calderdale and Huddersfield Trust, about their unique role in supporting young people with diabetes, and their quality improvement project on transition here.
- Podcast with the team at Warrington and Halton NHS Trust on how they have developed their transition service through applying quality improvement methods, engaging with children and young people and gaining feedback from parents and carers here.
- ‘Establishing a Transition Service’ presented by Ms Louise Capeling, Children’s Epilepsy Nurse Specialist at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board here.
Watch the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board team’s Epilepsy QI Programme video about using the Ready Steady Go programme to support transition below: