Here at Guy’s and St Thomas’ we’re coordinating a project across London and the South East to improve services for young adults with kidney disease.
Young adults have specific emotional and social needs. In kidney care, teenagers who transfer from paediatric to adult services or present directly to adult services often struggle with adjustment issues and problems with denial and concordance.
We’re one of five NHS Kidney Care local project groups across the country tasked with developing innovative ways of offering young people with kidney disease the practical and emotional support they require.
Six months into the project, things are starting to really come together, thanks in large part to Clare Nottage, our Young Persons Kidney Care Coordinator, who has been working really hard.
We had a significant achievement in June, with a very successful workshop for London and the South East looking at transition issues. It really came to life after three young adults shared their different experiences of transition.
It was a great opportunity to network and share experiences and Clare has put together a resource pack from this event, which includes articles and reference lists for relevant studies and reviews, as well as links to guidelines and criteria for working with young adults. For a copy of this resource pack, email: clare.nottage@gstt.nhs.uk
Of course, it is not just in kidney care where young adults can benefits from specific support and advice, and I was pleased to be able to raise awareness of our project to nurses, midwives and health visitors across the NHS recently, through the Chief Nursing Officer’s Bulletin.
For more information about this project, go to the NHS Kidney Care website
Sue Cox is a Consultant Nurse in Advanced Kidney Care at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust