Supporting young people in their transition to adults’ services: summary of NICE guidance

#### What you need to know In spite of a wealth of guidance,1 young people making the transition from children’s to adults’ services are often inadequately or inconsistently supported.2 3 4 This can lead to disrupted care.5 It can also mean they disengage from services, which can be costly, both for them and for care providers. Transition is a process and should not be conflated with transfer, which is a discrete event. Simple transfer may result in poor understanding of the young person’s treatment needs by the new adult team. Healthcare transition is a gradual, purposeful, and goal oriented process. It can be difficult and often coincides with other transitions such as development into adulthood, which adds complexity. Transition should start well before transfer and enable patients to understand the service changes they can expect. See linked infographic on supporting young people in their transition to adults’ services. We summarise the most recent recommendations from the Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) aimed at improving the transition process and outcomes across health and social care.6 NICE recommendations are based on systematic reviews of best available evidence and explicit consideration of cost effectiveness. When minimal evidence is available, recommendations are based on the guideline committee’s experience and expert opinion of …