Services Outpatient Clinics – for patients aged 16+ Referral Guidelines Diabetes - Young Adult Diabetes Transition Clinic (16-25 years)

Young Adult Diabetes Transition Clinic - public patients 

For patients transitioning from paediatric to young adult care

Scope of Service

The Mater Young Adult Diabetes Transition Clinics are for patients aged between 16 and 18 years of age.  The purpose of the clinics is to support the smooth transition of diabetes care from Lady Cilento Children's Hospital (LCCH) and/or other paediatric healthcare providers to the Mater Young Adult Health Centre.  

The initial appointment will be with the Diabetes Nurse Educator in the Transition Clinic. The transition clinic offers an extended appointment with the Diabetes Nurse Educator and the opportunity for the patient and their carers to be familiarised with the Young Adult Service in a supportive environment.

Following the initial transition clinic appointment the patient will then be offered ongoing care within the Young Adult Diabetes Clinic which is a multi-disciplinary clinic offering comprehensive care for young people with diabetes. Some patients may be offered an appointment directly with the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) in the Young Adult Diabetes Clinic if the patient's medical history/complex care needs indicate that an earlier MDT appointment may be beneficial.

How to Refer

If referral for care is indicated please list all of the General Referral Information and reason for request, and essential information as indicated below.

To refer, please fill in the Mater Adult Referral Form, available to download and embed into most major Practice Management software applications.

Referrals can be sent by:

Referral Criteria

Please include all of the General Referral Information and the following information relevant to the patient you are referring. Patients who are referred to the clinic are triaged according to the diabetes and endocrine referral guidelines.

Essential Information (referral will be declined without this):

• Type of diabetes and duration of disease
• Details of all treatments offered and efficacy
• Presence of any complications and details when screening last performed
• Previous allied health reviews of risk factors
• Summary of CYMHS / mental health team involvement
• Details of any management plans that are in place 
• Weight / BMI percetile graphing
• BP
• History of smoking and recreational drug use
• HbA1c (current and previous results)
• FBC ELFT fasting lipids – cholesterol LDL HDL Tg results
• Urine albumin: creatinine results

Additional Information (useful for processing the referral):

• Copy of GPMP/TCA
• Ankle brachial pressure index (ABPI)
• License status
• Results of depression screening (PHQ-2)
  • over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems?
    • little interest or pleasure in doing things?
    • feeling down, depressed, or hopeless?
• If Type 1 diabetes: TSH, anti-transglutaminase antibodies, IgA for coeliac disease within the last 5 years
• If peripheral neuropathy: B12 folate
• recent retinal examination photo/report

Preparation for transition to an adult health care provider

There are important principles in the effective transition of young people from paediatric to adult care which include:

• Our service is one of many available to your patient. All appropriate options for adult diabetes care should be discussed and offered to the young person and family. They should be encouraged to choose the adult diabetes care provider who best meets their needs (this may include geographical location, close to home, work or university, clinic hours, costs, staff available etc).
• Most young people who will arrive at our service will have begun their transition process many years prior to being transferred to our care. When the young person is transitioned to the Young Adult Diabetes Service we will continue to work with the young person and their family/carer.
• We recognise that not all components of the transition process may be complete at the time of the transfer and we will work with you to identify and prioritise the elements of the transition. For example, we will follow up on any education which will need to be addressed following the transfer.
• Please consider delaying the transfer of care if the patient is currently experiencing crisis.
• To assist in referring your patient, please provide a comprehensive referral for with current contact details such as telephone number, address and email, next of kin and GP. You may also complete and Transition Summary (Queensland Health only) document.

Mater Young Adult Diabetes Health Care Team

Bulk Billed Clinics

Mater Young Adult Services offers patients the opportunity to attend bulk billed clinics. To provide your patient with the opportunity to attend a bulk billed specialist clinic, please provide a named referral to one of our specialists listed above.

Contact Us

If you would like to discuss a referral, including clinical criteria, or update the status of a current patient please contact our priority GP phone line on 07 3163 2200 

Pre-Referral Guidelines

• Best Practice Guidelines for Health Professionals by Diabetes Australia
   

Current Waiting Time for Appointments

We provide up to date data on how long patients are waiting for their first appointment by specialty here

Referral Guideline Development

These Mater Referral Guidelines align with standardised best practice tools for referral to publicly funded specialist outpatient services developed in Queensland through the Clinical Prioritisation Criteria project. 

Content Last Reviewed: 22 February 2018