KAOS (King’s Adolescent Outreach Service) is a new, unique project to improve the care of adolescents in hospital. The project was launched by King’s College Hospital doctors Simon Chapman and Hannah Baynes, in collaboration with Redthread and supported by the Children and Young People’s Health Partnership (CYPHP).
The aim of the project is to identify and support adolescents aged 16-19 years who have been admitted to adult inpatient wards at King’s College Hospital. Dr Chapman explains why this group can benefit from extra support when they’re admitted to hospital:
“Paediatric services typically go up to the age of 16; after this, patients move on to adult services. From the work we’ve conducted over the last two years, we know that ten to twelve young people are on adult wards at Denmark Hill at any one time. As there are so few of them and they are scattered across the hospital, they can become invisible, but their needs are very specific."
“KAOS will be able to address their needs and provide an extra layer of care for adolescents.”
The KAOS team consists of three core members; Dr Baynes, Dr Chapman and Barney Dunn, a youth worker from Redthread. The team is also supported by over 20 professionals across the Denmark Hill site, representing a breadth of professions and specialities. Each day, the team will identify adolescent patients across the hospital, meet with these patients and work with their medical and surgical teams to ensure that their needs are being met not only physically, but also emotionally and socially.
The project is part of King’s College Hospital’s wider vision to become a young person friendly hospital by improving the suitability, accessibility, quality and safety of services for young people. The ideas behind KAOS are aligned with the Children and Young People’s Health Partnership’s vision of improving everyday health care, by improving quality and age-appropriateness of care.
To learn more, follow the KAOS team on Twitter for the latest updates on the project: @KAOS_Kings