Transitional care for young people with diabetes: policy and practice

Young people with diabetes inevitably require transfer to adult services. Adult clinics differ from paediatric clinics and therefore a smooth, planned process of transition is required. Adolescence can be especially difficult for young people with diabetes and research evidence highlights the need for individualised approaches to this transition. Health policy related to diabetes services emphasises the importance of good transition and guidelines are available to inform service development and improvement. Local services in one district in England appear to reflect policy, guidelines and evidence but there a number of actions that could be taken to further improve transitional care both locally and nationally.