Enhancing support for our young people

Growing up with a liver condition can bring unique challenges and we’re continually  looking at ways we can help address these. 

Our young people’s officer Louise, is always happy to arrange a 121 video call or a chat via Hive, our dedicated social media channel. Now she’s working even more closely with the three specialist liver units to help build a more rounded support for young people, particularly as they start the transition to adult services. 

 “Most of our young people have been attending the paediatric liver units at Kings, Birmingham Children’s and Leeds for several years,” says Louise. “As they start to manage their liver condition for themselves and maybe attending appointments without their parents, they will invariably have questions and need a bit of additional support, so I’m really pleased that Kings, Leeds St James and Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospitals now all have youth workers in place too. 

“Tobi is the new youth worker at Kings; Mwesi looks after paediatric and young adult patients at Leeds and Philippa helps young people manage transition at the QE in Birmingham.  

“I’ve set up a working group with all of them as we’re all working towards the common goal of young people living well with their liver condition. By sharing ideas and resources, we can ensure that our young people can access the information and support they need as quickly as possible. 

Louise’s fellow youth workers are equally enthusiastic about the plan: 

“Louise and I liaise closely to make sure young people get the best care”, says Philippa. “We already speak to all our young people and their families about CLDF as it’s another level of support for them. We’ll even do a joint session over Teams whilst patients are on the ward, and we find families really appreciate this approach.” 

“Working with Louise from CLDF has given our patients extra support they would not have had access to,” agrees Mwesi. “By working together, we can better meet patient needs and provide a more robust care pathway for young people transitioning outside of Leeds. “ 

“At Kings, we support young people from across the UK,” adds Tobi. “The additional support that CLDF will provide to our young people will be immensely beneficial. It’s reassuring to know that we are all collaborating to support the young people in our care and great to have the opportunity to discuss ideas and strategies with those who understand the challenges our young people face.” 

  “We’ve now had our first meeting which generated plenty of suggestions on how we can further improve the transition experience,” continues  Louise. “It’s great to have good connections in these vital centres and I’m excited to see what we can achieve for the young people we support.”