Transition from the West Dorset Paediatric Respiratory Service

This leaflet gives you information about your transfer of care from paediatric respiratory services to adult respiratory services.

What does transition mean?

Transition is the process where we plan and prepare you for the handover of care from the paediatric respiratory service to the local adult respiratory service or your GP.

Making this next step in your care, which might be at the hospital or the GP, might be stressful. This is to be expected, particularly if you have been coming to the paediatric department for a long period of time and are used to the staff and how we run our clinics.

By having discussions about transition, and planning for it in advance, we hope to reduce your stress and make sure the process is as smooth as possible.

Do you have to move to adult services?

As a teenager, moving to adult services is a natural step. As in other areas of your life, it is important to develop your independence in your respiratory care. As you get older, some of the things you want to discuss or the care you might need, can not be provided by the paediatric service.

You may also prefer to be seen in a more grown up environment rather than being surrounded by young children, toys and noise.

Can you choose which adult respiratory service you move to?

Asthma
Part of the transition service will look at the service that best meets your asthma needs. Some 18-year-olds can be discharged back into the care of their GP, unless ongoing specialist respiratory care is required. If this is the case for you, you will be referred to the adult respiratory team at DCH and be seen by the nurse consultant within their team.

CF (Cystic Fibrosis)
Adult services are offered at both Exeter Hospital and Southampton Hospital, which service you continue your care under is up to you. Joint clinic appointments with the adult team from Southampton can be offered as part of the transition process. You will be able to visit the centre which you choose to continue your care.

LTV (Long Term Ventilation)
Adult LTV services are offered at Southampton Hospital. This will be done in partnership with the paediatric LTV team in Southampton in which you will already be familiar with.

How it works

At Dorset County Hospital we use a transition document called Ready Steady Go. Within this document there are three phases to the transition process which are explained below:

1. Planning phase (12 to 14 years) ‘Ready’: We will introduce the idea of transition to you. We will talk about how much you already know about your allergies, and how to manage them.
2. Preparation phase (14 to 16 years) ‘Steady’: We will start to encourage you to have some of your appointment time with your doctor or nurse on your own and discuss a plan for transition.
3. Transfer phase (16 to 18 years) ‘Go’: We will talk with you about how ready you are to move to adult services, and make sure you have the information you need about your allergies.

Who can help you?

There are lots of people who will support you before and during the move to adult services. These include nurses, doctors, dieticians and your GP. These professionals can be both from your local team or your regional teams. They can help you by:

• teaching you about your medical condition and how to manage this.
• making sure you know who to contact in an emergency, including when and how
• working through situations relating to your medical conditions
• making sure you know what support networks are available (including charities)
• helping you understand how your medical condition might affect your future education or career plans
• helping you feel comfortable and confident in talking to healthcare professionals about your medical condition on your own.

Your family

Your family may have been responsible for looking after your health since you were young, and they might continue to be involved in your medical care during the transition to adult services.

It is important to realise your parents might find it difficult handing over responsibility to you and realising that you are becoming an adult. Try to talk to them about how you feel, and discuss practical issues with them too, such as making appointments, ordering repeat prescriptions, and asking questions in clinic.

Questions for your respiratory team

Here are so me questions you might like to ask your respiratory team:

• When will I be moving to adult services?
• Can I choose the adult service I move to?
• What is different about the adult service?
• Can I meet the adult team before I move to them?
• Will I always have my respiratory condition?
• Will my medical condition affect my plans for my future such as trave, university or work?

Contact numbers

We hope that you have found this information useful. If you have any questions or are worried about anything, please speak to the following Dorset County Hospital staff:

Paediatric Respiratory Nurse Specialist Rebecca Holding: 01305 254279
Paediatric Consultant: Dr Verling (secretary): 01305 253367
Paediatric Respiratory Physiotherapist Gemma Marsh: 01305 254744

Useful websites

Asthma UK: www.asthmaandlung.org.uk

CF Trust: www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk

About this leaflet

Author: Rebecca Holding, Paediatric Respiratory Nurse Specialist
Written: June 2024
Approved: February 2025
Review date: February 2028
Edition: 1

If you have feedback regarding the accuracy of the information contained in this leaflet, or if you would like a list of references used to develop this leaflet, please email patientinformation.leaflets@dchft.nhs.uk