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Transition to adult hospital

Posted By ParentAdvoK8

"Transition to adult hospital"

About: Perth Children's Hospital

(as a service user),

I feel there is too much pressure for kids to transition to the adult hospital.

We are told by our doctors so many times over the years that no two children with "disease" are alike. 

We have kids who were 10 weeks premature, developmentally delayed, mental health issues, depression, anxiety and disability who might be 18 on the outside, but developmentally are simply not ready to transition.

I believe the transition process should be tailored to the individual.

We are promised over and over we won't be pushed and then next minute we have to go. 

I believe we need to start speaking to kids like they have choices. Not that they have to go here, you have to do this. They need time to process the information and to accept what needs to be done.

It seems very little has changed for us in 18 years. In my opinion, it seems very few health care professionals know how to deal with severe anxiety. It's time to stop holding kids down and causing unnecessary trauma. 

Based on my experience, I believe there are too many nurses in the room all talking, the dr talking, raising their voices only adds to anxiety by putting the child in sensory overload. It would be nice to see some research or a survey on procedure anxiety. The best people to talk to, in my opinion, are the parents and the patients.

Thank you

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Responses

Response from Susan Slack, Coordinator of Nursing, Education, Research and Patient Flow Unit, Child and Adolescent Health Service - WA 3 years ago
We have made a change
Susan Slack
Coordinator of Nursing, Education, Research and Patient Flow Unit,
Child and Adolescent Health Service - WA

Submitted on 11/02/2021 at 6:45 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 12/02/2021 at 1:28 PM

Dear ParentAdvoK8,

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on your experience at the Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH). I am very sorry to read that you feel exhausted, let down and that your concerns have not been heard. I have provided your feedback to our Adolescent Transition to Adult Health Services team and have investigated your concerns.

I would like to acknowledge that for young people with chronic illnesses and conditions, transitioning to adult services can be a very challenging and stressful time for all involved, including the young person, their families, their paediatric and adult specialists, and their community team. At PCH, we have processes in place to try and alleviate the possible stresses felt by all during this time and we ultimately aim to ensure that all of the people involved are adequately prepared for the transition.

In line with national and international recommendations on how to prepare for transition, one of the processes that we follow here at PCH involves beginning the transition process at the age of 13. This is to allow patients and their families, as well as their health care teams, time to appropriately prepare for moving to adult services. I would like to stress that this does not mean that the patient will be transferred early and it is not intended that the patient feels pressure to transition, but are provided with adequate time to be involved in the discussions and planning for transfer of care. I completely agree with you that transition processes should be individualised and involve the young person as much as possible. Again this is why we start the transition planning early, so that there is appropriate time for discussion and planning.

The PCH Adolescent Transition to Adult Health Services team are currently working with health care professionals in PCH to improve their approach to transition to adult services and remind them of the importance of planning for transition early so that patients and their families do not feel pressured. This includes ensuring that health care professionals involve the young person in decision-making. For your information, the team has also set up a WA Youth Health Transition Network to try and improve transition to adult services in WA.

Once again I would like to thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. If you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact the Consumer Engagement team by phone on 08 6456 0032 or email cahsfeedback@health.wa.gov.au.

Kind regards,

Susan Slack

Coordinator of Nursing Services

Perth Children’s Hospital | Child and Adolescent Health Service

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