Background Until April 2019, there was no clear pathway in our region for young adults to make the transition from children’s hospice care to an adult hospice environment. There is a growing focus on making sure that young people with palliative care needs have a positive experience of transition from child to adult services (Marie Curie Cancer Care & the Transition Partnership, 2012).

The number of young adults with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions is much higher than previously thought and numbers are increasing. This increase has come about because children are now living into adulthood due to improvements in medical technology, such as night-time ventilation (Fraser, Miller, Aldridge, et al.,2013).

Aim To establish a clear pathway from children’s to adults’ hospice services.

Method Using funding awarded by the Albert Hunt grant, we worked alongside our local children’s hospice to identify young adults being discharged from their service.

May – July 2019 consultations and co-production with young adults, their families, health professionals, links with partner agencies, television and radio promo. July 2019: first Open Day for consultation with young adults and their families. September 2019: second Open Day to launch the Young Adults’ group.

Results Young adults accessing our services: 11 young adults attending the Young Adults’ group: 7. In addition to young adults transitioning from children’s hospice care, we also support young adults who are newly diagnosed.

Conclusion The Young Adults service is now fully embedded into the core offer of our hospice services.