Eighteen years of home care: from assistance by phone to a complete service within the health care system

A postal questionnaire was undertaken to assess the current facilities available for adolescents in Irish hospitals. A previous survey showned that no facilities existed whereas this survey demonstrates some improvements but adolescents are still admitted to adult wards, have inappropriate waiting facilities at outpatients and a limited number of joint Paediatric-Adult clinics. The ability of paediatricians to assess risk taking behaviour and the provision of age appropriate information at ward and outpatient level was assessed. The results demonstrate there is need for improvement in all aspects of adolescent care in Irish hospital services. This needs to be addressed promptly as 66% of the paediatricians surveyed were considering the development adolescent services in their hospitals.