Transition Event

At the end of August, Suzie represented the charity at a cross London event organised by the GOS, Brompton and Evelina/St Thomas’s team to help their patients  beginning the move from Children’s to Adult services.

Transition is for some a worrying time. Making the move from the team that have looked after you since you were born to a completely new team can be very daunting for the young adults as well as their parents. The Transition Event was created to help young people understand what moving from one service to another is all about and to explore issues about living with a congenital heart condition. Many of the units also hold their own transition events where their young patients can find out more about their own unit and meet the adult cardiac team who will be looking after them. 

This was a new event, hosted by the British Heart Foundation, where lots of the national charities as well as the charities that work at the three London hospitals were invited to let young people know about the services they provide. I was there to talk about the Zipper Zone Youth group which young LHM members from the age of 10 upwards can join. I had copies of our newsletter and our new Youth stand which one of our youth members, Luke, helped us create following his work on an art project.  It was great to meet the teenager and some young adults and chat to them about the challenges that they face. Some of them gave me their details and will be joining the youth group which is great.

There were also lots of other organisations there highlighting different services and support. Prospects – careers advise, Beat Bullying and Changing faces helping people talk about their scars.

Thank you to the teams that invited us to attend it was a great opportunity to talk about what we do.