Planned Date of Discharge

There are a number of staff who may be involved in your care, including nurses, social workers, independent patient advocates, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, dietitians, doctors and pharmacists.

It is important in any journey that a clear destination is set out. Working with you, the team assessing you will decide on a plan for your journey while you are a patient. The team will then give you an idea when you will go home.

We will aim to be very specific where we can. This is called a ‘planned date of discharge’. We will establish a specific date so you and your family or carer are fully aware. We want to get you home as quickly as possible, so that you are back in your own familiar surroundings. 

As part of your recovery, you may be moved to an alternative (temporary) facility where you will receive more specialist rehabilitation or care to help you fully recover.  This will be agreed with you and will form a key element of the plan for your journey home.

You will only go home when you are ready. This means the team think you are medically stable and that you are going to be able to cope at home.

Our team meets on a daily basis and we will keep you, your family and your carer informed along the way.

If you need prescribed medicine to support you after hospital, this will be carefully considered with you and your family/carer from the earliest possible stage during your stay.

A range of professionals are involved in this process.  Their unified aim is to tailor any course of medicine, be it short or longer term, to how it will best suit your needs when you return home.

If you have trouble taking medicine by yourself, for example, our team will consider this at an early stage and make plans to identify suitable supports that match in with the timings of existing/planned support visits.

There will be good communication between everyone involved which may include hospital pharmacists, the discharge team, your GP, community pharmacy and community staff (like care at home) to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Yes. If you already have a planned day for going home but you are not ready, we will communicate with you and your family and/or carer and set out a new date that reflects your recovery.

Often there can also be non-medical issues that can have an impact on your discharge home. This may be related to such things as the home environment, using equipment or the impact of additional caring responsibilities.

The planned date of discharge programme takes into account a person’s medical and social care needs in terms of their ability to safely return home (or to a community setting.)

Your discharge plan belongs to you and it will be fully discussed and planned in consultation with you and your carer, recognising personal and carer rights.

It is important that you tell a member of the team about any concerns as soon as possible so this can be considered and factored into the discharge plan we set out with you.

That will depend on you as an individual and what your home circumstances are. The team will take this into consideration and set goals along with you. The aim will be to support you, your recovery and to get you home safely.

During an assessment, it may be identified that an aid or adaptation will provide additional support for you at home. If this is the case, this will be discussed with you and your family and the delivery and installation can be arranged.

If your treatment and recovery all goes to plan, we will discharge you from hospital on the planned date of discharge.

We encourage you, if you can and it is safe, to make your own way home on discharge.  Family or friends can help.  If you are not able to do this, we have alternative arrangements that can be organised by the team.

This will depend on your needs as an individual.  The hospital team will assess and discuss with you what this will look like and arrange the services accordingly.

There are lots of services out there to support you – including GP, social services, community rehabilitation services, carer support organisations and voluntary organisations. If services are arranged, they will have all your information at hand, including information about your hospital stay.

It is important to note that not everyone requires support services on discharge.  Contact numbers will be provided from the ward with any health and social care professionals if you need to get in touch once you are home.