Enhancing Adolescent Care and Transition into Adult Services

Louise is a Registered Children’s Nurse and also has a degree in Business Management (BABM). Her role is Lead Nurse for Healthcare Transition of Children and Young People at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust (LTHT).

Funded by the Burdett Trust for Nurses, Louise works in a project management role, supporting all services in LTHT to identify best practice transition pathways for children and young people with a long term conditions, when moving from children’s to adult services.

Alongside the transition project Louise supports the running of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Youth Forum, Leeds Childrens Hospital TV (LCHTV) and Learning Disabilities, Autism and Hidden Disabilities Staff Champions and line manages the LTHT youth work team.

Louise has also formed and is chair of the Yorkshire and Humber Transition Network group and the National Transition Leads Network group.

Katie qualified as a Physiotherapist in 2002 and has worked in both mainstream and mental health NHS trusts since then. In 2006 she re-located to Austria and worked as Physio in the local psychiatric hospital for three years before moving back to the UK to work for Leeds and York Partnership Trust. Katie then moved into AHP management with Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Trust for 5 years. She joined NHS England and NHS Improvement in 2018 as a Strategy Advisor with the Strategy Team and then moved into the Children’s and Young People’s Transformation Team as a Senior Policy Manager. The CYP Team lead on a number of Long-Term Plan priorities and Katie’s programmes of work include Transition, Asthma and Workforce. 

Stephanie is a GP partner in a group practice covering a diverse inner city population of 16,000 in Lambeth, South London and co-founder and Clinical Director of the Well Centre, an young person’s integrated health hub with Primary Care, Health and Wellbeing Link workers and CAMHS. 

She has a special interest in developing accessible, young people friendly services in Primary Care and developing targeted services to more vulnerable groups of young people, including young offenders and those with long term conditions. 

She is a member of the RCGP Adolescent Health Group. 

She also works as Primary Care and Young Person’s Lead with the Children and Young People’s Health Partnership (CYPHP), a transformation programme across Lambeth & Southwark.

Donna has worked within the Youth Work field for over 25 years covering a wide variety of roles & experiences. These have included: detached youth work, centre-based work, school exclusion projects, support services for young offenders & drug users, young volunteer training programmes, sports education and coaching programmes, holiday engagement projects, participation programmes, youth support work in schools and youth work training/lecturing in universities. 

Donna has worked in Health-based Youth Work for over 23 years, which has evolved from starting out as a Youth Worker in Renal Services, to developing and managing an award-winning Youth Service across Nottingham Children’s Hospital. Donna has a keen interest in Young People’s Health Transition and has supported national projects, including being a Steering Group member for the NHSI Transition Collaborative and The Burdett Trust Transition Advisory groups. 

Donna is passionate about promoting Health-based Youth Work on a wider level. She has written papers and book chapters about health-based youth work and has recently developed, along with her team, a Health-Based Youth Work Curriculum. She is currently chair of the national Health-based Youth Worker’s Network. 

Achievements have included the Action For Sick Children Best Practice Award ‘Outstanding Achievement in Adolescent Services’ – 2001; the British Journal of Renal Medicine Award ‘Innovation in Nephrology’ – 2002; recognition as a case study for Best Practice by the National Youth Agency in 2003 & 2008; finalist in the Children & Young People Now Services Awards 2006; Winner of the Children & Young People’s Services Awards 2008; Winner of the National Clubs for Young People Healthy Living Award 2008; Clubs for Young People ‘Youth Club of the Year’ – 2009; Clubs for Young People ‘Youth Leader of the Year’ – 2009; NUH Honours Volunteer of the Year Award 2009; Finalist in the Children & Young People Now’s Services Awards 2012; 2013 and 2016; Youth Forum Patient Champion Award 2017; Shortlisted in NUHonours awards 2017 & 2019; NUH Family Health Champions Award 2021.

Helena is a consultant in endocrinology at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, and clinical service lead for endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism for University Hospitals Birmingham. She is also adult endocrinology clinical lead for the West Midlands Genomic Disease Advisory Board, and acts as an adviser to a number of patient support groups.

Helena has been a member of the RCP’s Young Adult and Adolescent Steering Group since 2010 (serving as chair between 2013 and 2018), reflecting her interest in improving the healthcare of young people both in endocrinology, and in the broader health arena. This work also involved developing NICE guidance and quality statements for transition, and giving evidence to the relevant All Party Parliamentary Group.

Throughout her career, Helena has spearheaded training initiatives in young people’s health (including transition), including developing a JRCPTB supported guide for trainers and trainees, and creating an acute care toolkit for adolescents and young adults.

Helena has also served as the Royal College of Paediatric and Child Health’s national clinical champion for the eLFH Adolescent Health Programme, and oversaw its relaunch in 2015.

Neil Fletcher is a Roald Dahl Clinical Nurse Specialist for Teenagers and Young Adults at Barts Health NHS Trust. He is co-hosting Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity's Roald Dahl Nursing Conference. The theme for this year's event is is on 'Transition of Care'.