Hospital discharge – everyone loses when its handled poorly

A recent report in the UK coordinated by Senior Research Fellow at Anglia Ruskin University, Dr Oonagh Corrigan looked at a large number of hospital discharge cases over 2 years. She said, “I think everyone recognises that when the discharge process doesn’t work very well, everyone loses. The hospitals suffer from so called ‘bed blocking’, patients are put through unnecessary stress, and family carers find themselves having to pick up the pieces around ongoing support from social care and the like.”
The key findings revealed that in all too many cases both patients and family carers were not involved in the planning of discharge and follow-up support, which contributed to a lack of continuity of care and sometimes saw patients readmitted.
Being discharged too soon was another key finding. Some patients – particularly some elderly patients and those who had care responsibilities or little family or other support – reported feeling under pressure to leave hospital before feeling ready to be discharged.
Delays on the day of discharge were also commonplace due to hold-ups in the   delivery of take-home medication, hospital transportation and information such as letters for GPs and discharge or care plans. Where assessments for care packages were required, delays could be exacerbated by a lack of coordination between health and social care and the shortage of care  places in the community, care homes, nursing homes and re-ablement services.

Corrigan, Oonah [et al]. Insights into Hospital Discharge: A study of patient, carer and staff experience in Essex. Healthwatch Essex, 2016