Care after hospital discharge

Being told you’re ready to be discharged from hospital to come home is positive news.

With our hospital discharge care service, our professional care staff are on hand to help you once you’re medically fit to go home.

A person’s care shouldn’t end the minute they leave hospital. All hospitals should have plans in place to help with the transition from hospital to home. Each hospital will have its own policy and arrangements for discharging people and should provide information about this.

A hospital social worker and possibly a discharge co-ordination team are likely to be involved in planning your ongoing care. Most importantly, you should be told who to contact for help and support once you’ve returned home.

Read the heart-warming story of Connie and her live-in carer Elena.

Delays with hospital discharge

There are often delays in discharge, because the required care is unavailable. This means you’ll need to stay in hospital until your consultant agrees that you’re able to manage on your own, or that the necessary level of care is in place to support you.

Typically you shouldn’t be discharged from hospital until:

• You are medically fit (this can only be decided by the consultant or someone the consultant has said can make the decision on their behalf)
• You have had an assessment to look at the support you need to be discharged safely
• You have been given a written care plan that sets out the support you’ll get to meet your assessed needs
• The support described in your care plan has been put in place and it’s safe for you to be discharged

Care after hospital discharge – our fast-track service

We’ve created a fast-track care after hospital discharge service, based on our trusted and successful live-in care service. People can pay for their own live-in care so they can be safely and promptly discharged from hospital once medically fit, safe in the knowledge that the necessary care is in place when they return home. After all, there’s nowhere quite like home.

We have a network of experienced and vetted live-in care staff. There will be someone who’s a great match for your care needs, situation and personality.