Your transition clinic

Some specialty teams at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) run their own dedicated transition clinics. How these are run will vary between specialties but some things will be the same.

You will probably see more people around your own age at the clinic, and everyone will be getting ready to move to an adult service or services. Each person will be at a different stage of their preparation. For some people it might be their first transition clinic and the first time they have tried seeing a doctor on their own. For others it may be their last clinic at GOSH and the next time they meet a doctor will be in an adult or young adult clinic in another hospital.

You will always be offered the opportunity to talk to one of the team on your own for some of your appointment. This is to give you a chance to practice talking to a doctor or nurse, and for the doctor or nurse to find out how much you know about your conditions and treatments. It doesn’t matter if you can’t answer their questions at first - the idea of a transition clinic is for you to be able to practice, and so that you have the time to learn and grow in confidence.

In some transition clinics there's the chance to meet a member of the team from your new hospital so that you are able to speak to them before you go for your first appointment at the adult hospital. This should help make the experience a little less scary for you.