Adding to the transitional care evidence base for future national guidance

5 An ethnographic study in three UK hospitals reported wide variation in the operational definitions of "developmentally appropriate" healthcare as perceived by a range of clinicians and managers. 6 Progress in transitional care research, as well as in service delivery, is likely to be enhanced by adopting and attending to a greater developmental focus (a "life course approach") rather than the institutional focus (ie, change in service provision) that currently prevails.