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Your Discharge From Hospital

Welcome to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. You are here because you need treatment that can only be provided in a hospital.

We aim to discharge you from hospital as soon as you are well enough

It’s important for us to work together to make sure you’re not in hospital any longer than you need to be.

Staying in hospital once you are well enough to leave has an impact on your health.

  • Research has found that for every ten days of bed rest in hospital, patients aged over 80 suffer the equivalent of ten years of muscle ageing – this can make a big difference in how independent you are after leaving hospital.
  • Older people are more likely to become confused when in hospital. This confusion can have a lot of side effects, including making dementia worse. It can mean the difference between going home or going into a nursing home. We’re not sure why being in hospital has this impact, but it’s probably due to being in an unfamiliar and stressful place, away from a normal routine.
  • These unfamiliar surroundings and confusion make it more likely that patients will fall whilst they are in hospital. We do all we can to prevent this from happening but there are around 250,000 inpatient falls every year in the UK. Falling can cause injuries and means that patients will spend even longer in hospital. Many of these patients wouldn’t have fallen if they had been at home.

That’s why we want to discharge you from our hospital as soon as we can, so you can recover at home or in another place more suitable for your needs and get back to your normal routine as soon as possible.

What happens now – where is best for you now

There will be a lot of different people involved in your care – all of them will have the aim of getting you back home as quickly as possible. They will talk to you and your relatives/carers about your discharge, they should let you know when we think you are ready to be discharged and what needs to happen to get you out of hospital.

Hopefully you will be able to go straight home, or it may be that you need more care, or further assessment in another hospital, or a place closer to home. This will be delivered by another NHS or social care provider, and we will work with them to ensure a smooth transfer of your care. We will work with these teams to make sure you have any help and support you need.

It’s important that you talk to your relatives/friends and to the teams looking after you about your discharge. Don’t be afraid to ask what’s happening.

  • The teams looking after you know how important it is that we get you home. Make sure you let us know of any support you already have – such as equipment or carers.

Including you and people important to you in your discharge

We will involve you at every stage of planning your discharge. We will also work with you to include people who are important to you, such as relatives, carers or friends, in your discharge and planning what will happen after you leave hospital.

The teams looking after you know how important it is that we get you home and will ask questions about any support you already have at home, such as equipment or carers. We encourage you and the people important to you to speak with our teams to let them know if you have any questions about your discharge planning.

If you require an independent representative (patient advocate) to support you in discussions about your future care, please let us know and we can arrange this. 

Did you know?

Getting out of your nightclothes and into normal clothes can help you to start feeling better.

Try to stay mobile if you can – it can help your recovery – make sure you ask your nurse if you can get up and out of bed.

Not smoking whilst in hospital can help you recover faster – nicotine replacement therapy can help and is available free of charge.

How you can support your discharge

If you, your family, or carers have any concerns, or are aware of any circumstances that will impact on your discharge arrangements, please let a member of staff know as soon as possible. Should your preferred family member or carer not be available to help to plan and support your discharge from hospital, we ask you ensure other suitable arrangements are in place, so your discharge is not delayed.

As discharges can often be arranged within a matter of hours, please ensure you and your family or carers consider how you will access your home, ensure you have suitable clothes to go home in, and ensure you have food and heating available at home.

In most circumstances it can be easier for you to arrange transport with family or friends unless ambulance transport is needed due to your medical condition.

What we will do

What are the options when you leave hospital?

  • Most patients can return to their own home or care home when leaving the hospital and this will always be the first option to be considered in planning for your discharge.
  • You may require additional support such as care, therapy or equipment in order to return home. We will arrange this for you.
  • If you cannot return home immediately and your future care or treatment needs are unclear, you will be transferred to an alternative bed-based setting for assessment of your longer-term needs. You will be moved to the next available bed. There will be no choice as this is not a long-term decision. 
  • This process is known as “discharge to assess” we recognise people have different needs once they no longer need care in an acute hospital. Staying longer than necessary is not good for your recovery or wellbeing. Staff are asked to arrange discharge on the day the doctor agrees you no longer need hospital care. You cannot stay in hospital if you choose not to accept the care offered to you on discharge.
  • During your stay in a community bed, you will receive the necessary treatment, care, or assessment to help you return home or to find an appropriate long term residential or nursing home. This will give you and your family the time to make important decisions whilst you are looked after in an appropriate environment.

Social Care Payments

  • Whilst NHS care is free of charge for people who are ordinarily resident in the UK, social care is not.
  • ‘Discharge to assess’ funding supports people to transition from hospital to home safely, preventing an unnecessary stay in hospital. When you are ready to be discharged, an initial assessment will be carried out to understand any extra support you may need after leaving hospital. Any new or extra care will be paid for by discharge to assess funding for a maximum of 4 weeks. A Care Act assessment will be completed within this 4-week timeframe to determine if you have any long-term needs. If any long-term needs are identified, at this point, charges will begin to apply. The amount you pay will be determined by the outcome of your financial assessment.
  • If you are admitted into an intermediate care bed at the Sister Winifred Laver Centre, the service will be free until any long-term needs have been identified. If long-term needs are identified, you will be charged a maximum of £148.53 for up to 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, you will start paying a contribution towards your care. The amount you pay will be determined by the outcome of your financial assessment.

Leaving the hospital

On the day of your discharge, you may be transferred to our discharge area, where you will be looked after until you leave the hospital.

We will aim to get you home before lunchtime wherever possible, so you are not kept waiting in the hospital and have time to settle in at home or in the place you are transferred to.

You may be provided with a small supply of medication on discharge. Staff will ensure you have clear instructions on how to take your medication and any possible side effects. If you are unclear, please ask staff for assistance.

Upon leaving the hospital, if you have any questions about your medication or require more medication, you should contact your local pharmacy or family doctor (GP), or the hospital ward if you have been advised to do so.

When you are discharged from hospital, you will return to the care of your GP; who will receive a summary of your treatment from the hospital.

If you have any concerns or questions about your health following your discharge from hospital you should:

Call NHS 111 if you urgently need medical help or advice but it’s not a life-threatening situation. You can also call NHS 111 if you’re not sure which NHS service you need. You can also speak to your GP and appointments are now available at weekends and evenings. Only attend A&E or ring 999 if it’s an emergency.

Help and support

You can get lots of help and advice about your health at www.nhs.uk

There is lots of support and advice about community groups, help and support on the internet. Having some support at home or making sure you don’t spend lots of time alone, can really help you to stay out of hospital.

Take a look at the following websites who all offer lots of support for older people.

Further information

For further information, please ask to speak to the Ward Manager or Matron.