Home from Hospital Care
There’s no place like home, so when you’re being discharged from the hospital, you don’t want to slow down the process by waiting for care to become available.
Hospital Discharge Service
Whether planned or unexpected, admission to a hospital can be a worrying time, particularly for an older person. Once there, the main objective is always to get well and to get home as soon as possible, but sometime this isn’t always practical without some additional assistance. Knowing you can go home with the support and help you need can have a huge impact on your emotional well-being and aid the recovery process.
We understand hospital discharge processes and work closely with discharge teams, local authorities, and families across the country to provide full-time live-in care for when a person leaves the hospital once they are sufficiently recovered.
There’s no place like home, so when you’re being discharged from hospital you don’t want to slow down the process by waiting for care to be available. You can go home with all the help and support you need until you are fully recovered, until alternative support can be sourced, or you can decide to retain our services.
Our live in care service can help you to recuperate and regain as much independence as possible by empowering you and showing you new ways to manage your individual care needs where possible.
Discharge summaries are sent direct to your GP practice with any changes to prescribed medication whilst in hospital.
Arranging Care Before You Leave Hospital
Before a person can be discharged from the hospital, their care needs must be assessed so that any support or care services they need can be arranged in advance before discharge.
Any organisations providing these services must be informed of the timing of the person’s discharge and when they can be visited to assess care needs, so that help and support can be arranged before you go home (are discharged).
Preparing to Leave Hospital
- Any extra help is arranged, such as visits from a district nurse community rehabilitation team.
- Any additional equipment required to aid mobility is ordered and fitted, such as a raised toilet seat, grab bars in bathrooms.
The Reablement Care At Home process should include:
- That they are medically fit (the consultant can only decide this, or another medical practitioner).
- The person is physically fit (often described as being at optimum level or safe) to return home with the support arranged and equipment ordered (only a occupational therapist with the aid of a physiotherapist can decide this). Additional support may be requested from the community rehabilitation team by making a referral.
- An assessment of the person’s needs, living environment and support network
- A written care plan that records these needs
- The support described in your care plan has been put in place, and it’s safe for you to be discharged.
- A system for monitoring and, if necessary, adjusting the care plan to meet any change in needs
- An assessment to see if the person qualifies for any funding towards the cost of care by local authority or through the NHS (Continuing Health Care)
Integrated Care Service
Communication and coordination with the onward care teams are essential to provide an integrated care service and avoid an unsafe discharge or readmission.
Indeed, many older people are now considering their long-term care before the decision is forced upon them by unexpected hospital admission.
An introduced live-in care professional can provide practical assistance with the tasks of everyday life – such as personal care, support with safe transfers, administering of prescribed medication, monitoring your well-being, preparing meals, shopping, cleaning, companionship, and they are there for you when you want to be accompanied to a medical appointment or even a social outing.