The Inbetweeners – a review of the transition from CYP into adult health services
The Child Health Clinical Outcome Review Programme has published The Inbetweeners, a review of the barriers and facilitators in the process of the transition of children and young people with complex chronic health conditions into adult health services. Based on data on children and young people with one of 12 complex conditions identified from a sample period between 1st October 2019 and 31st March 2021, it concludes that there is no clear pathway for the transition from healthcare services for children and young people to adult healthcare services.
The report finds that the process of transition and subsequent transfer is often fragmented, both within and across specialties, and that adult services often sit only with primary care. As such, it states that developmentally appropriate healthcare should be everyone’s responsibility, with adequate resources needed to allow this to happen.
The Inbetweeners also calls for services to:
- involve young people and parent/carers in transition planning and transition to adult services
- improve communication and coordination between all specialties
- be organised to enable young people to transfer to adult services effectively, and
- provide strong leadership at Board and specialty level at all stages of transition and transfer.
The report’s recommendations highlight areas that are suitable for regular local clinical audit and quality improvement initiatives by those providing care to this group of patients. It suggests that the results of such work should be presented at quality or governance meetings, and action plans to improve care should be shared with executive boards.
Read the full report: You can read the report by clicking on the link below.
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