What is transition?
In healthcare, transition is the process of planning, preparing and moving from children’s health care to adult health care. This leaflet describes how this process will happen within the North East Assisted Ventilation Service.
What will happen when I transition?
Now that you are transitioning to adult services, your respiratory care will be managed by the North East Assisted Ventilation Service.
You will meet some members of our team at the joint transition clinic appointments. These joint appointments will start at around age 14 years and continue until you are 17.
These appointments will still be led by the children’s team. The adult team will also attend the appointment so you can get to know us.
When you turn 17 you will then move to attending the adult team clinic appointments, for your first adult clinic appointment a member of the children’s team will also attend.
What do the adult team do?
We can help with ventilator, cough assistance, and long term tracheostomy for ventilatory support,
We also provide a cough and secretion management service to the North East and Cumbria.
We run clinics at;
- James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough
- Blyth Community Hospital in Northumberland
- Penrith Community Hospital
You can chose which clinic you wish to attend.
We provide a 24-hour equipment breakdown support service for people under our care.
Who we are?
The adult team is made up of consultants, nurses, physiotherapists, healthcare assistants and administrative staff.
What will the adult ventilation service be like?
It is similar to the children’s team; in that you will be seen by a consultant who oversees the machine you have. When you come to clinic, you will also still complete breathing tests and any other tests which may be needed.
We will see you in clinic either every six months or once a year depending on your medical requirements. When possible, we will carry out these appointments face to face but there is an option to carry out appointments virtually or via telephone.
The nursing and physio staff will support you to use your ventilator at home. They will provide support over the phone, virtually or face to face to support you wearing the ventilator. This may include trying new masks if needed, adjusting settings when necessary and adding humidifiers to make you more comfortable if needed.
Equipment and Servicing
Generally, the adult and children’s services use the same equipment so if it is the same then you will keep the equipment you currently have. On some occasions we may need to change you to a different ventilator but this will be done gradually and at your pace. We won’t remove your previous ventilator until you are settled on the new on.
Your equipment will continue to be serviced once each year by the medical electronic technicians based at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.
Any questions?
You may have been under the care of the children’s team for some years and we understand the idea of moving can be very daunting.
We encourage you to prepare any questions you may have about the process and bring them to your clinic appointment so we can help answer any concerns.
For further information
Contact us
You can contact us on:
Call: 0191 282 3153 during office hours (Monday to Friday between the hours of 8.30am and 6pm).
Email: [email protected]
Patient Advice and Liaison Service
PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) for help, advice and information about NHS services. You can contact them on freephone 0800 032 02 02, email [email protected]
Useful websites
If you would like further information about health conditions and treatment options, you may wish to have a look at the NHS website at www.nhs.uk
If you would like to find accessibility information for our hospitals, please visit www.accessable.co.uk
