Leaving hospital

Ensuring you can get home quickly to loved ones after your stay in hospital is really important for your care and ongoing recovery. It also means that we can prepare the bed space for our next patient who needs our help.

We will aim to discharge you on the morning of the date we have discussed with you, but this may not always be possible. Your nurse will keep you updated.

Please do discuss any queries or concerns you may have with your nurse or a member of the ward staff. Please make sure that you have outdoor clothes, including a coat and shoes to change into before you leave the hospital.

We will give you a letter that contains details of your hospital admission and any changes to your medications. This is known as a ‘discharge summary’. We will also send a copy to your GP for their records.

We will return any medications that you brought into hospital and still need. Please make sure that you have received them before you leave.

If you have started any new medications during your stay in hospital, we will give you a supply to take home. Your GP will then prescribe more if you need to continue taking it.

We will explain what your medication is for and how you should take it.

 

Medicines information helpline

If you have any queries about your medication after you have left the ward, please contact our medicines information helpline on 01962 824780. The service is available between 9am and 4pm, Monday to Friday.

Image two.jpg

You are expected to make your own arrangements for returning home.

If you have not been able to do this, please tell the ward staff as soon as possible.

If you are unable to travel by car or public transport due to a medical condition, you may be eligible for patient transport.

To book patient transport on your behalf, we will need to share details such as your name, address, NHS number and health conditions with South Central Ambulance Service. This is for your safety. If you do not want your information to be shared, please tell the ward staff as soon as possible.

partners-patient-transport.jpg

On the day you leave the ward, staff will help you to pack your belongings. They will then escort you to the discharge lounge to wait for any medication you need, and to be collected.

The lounge has comfortable chairs, television, magazines, and staff to take care of you while you wait.

If you need more care than the discharge lounge can provide, we will ask you to stay on the ward until you can leave the hospital.

Discharge Lounge_002 1.jpg

Sometimes our patients need continued support on discharge, this might include a further period of rehabilitation which may be carried out at home or in another inpatient setting such as community ward or short stay bed. Plans may change from day to day as the ward teams match your reablement requirements with availability of community resources, for example a period in a community hospital may be planned but your health improves so that you are now able to go home with help.  

Alternatively, we may not be able to source care at home immediately and a short stay bed or bed in a community ward will be offered as an interim arrangement whilst you wait for your care at home to be arranged. There is an expectation that once patients are medically fit for discharge they will accept this offered interim alternative if your care cannot be arranged immediately.  

If long term care is required this will be discussed with you, and you will be given the opportunity to be referred to the Local Authority to support you with your options for discharge.

If you require a nursing or care home and your initial choice of permanent home is not available you will be offered an alternative home as an interim arrangement whilst you wait for a place to become available in your choice of home.

In making these arrangements please be assured that your health and care is the upmost importance to us as all the evidence suggests that an unnecessarily long stay in an acute hospital is detrimental to wellbeing.

 

Checklist for going home

Use this checklist to help you get ready for leaving hospital. Making preparations in advance can help to avoid unnecessary delays or concerns on the day of your discharge from the ward.

 

Arrangements

❑ I have arranged my transport for going home or have asked the ward team to organise a taxi.

❑ The person picking me up knows the correct day and time to collect me.

❑ I have made arrangements with family or friends for any help I need at home.

❑ I have my house keys with me, or there is someone at home to let me in.

❑ A relative, carer or friend has checked that my heating is on (in colder months) and that the house is ready.

❑ There is food at home.

 

Getting ready

❑ I have outdoor clothing and shoes to wear while on the ward and for travelling home.

❑ I have all the medical equipment or supplies I need at home.

❑ I have all the medication I brought in with me and/or the medication the hospital has issued.

❑ I have all of my belongings, including valuables, with me.

 

What I need to know when I go home

❑ I know about any arrangements made for my continuing care (if needed).

❑ I know who to contact if I have any concerns or queries about my condition.

❑ I know whether I will need any follow-up appointments and when these will take place.

❑ I understand how to take my medication and what side effects to look out for.

❑ I have been given all the information I need.

 

 

Planning for leaving 

From the time you arrive in hospital, we will start planning your discharge (the day you leave hospital) with you. Find out more about planning for leaving hospital using the button below.

Follow-up and support

If you have any concerns immediately after leaving hospital, please contact the ward for advice. If you need a follow-up appointment or further tests, we will make arrangements for these before you leave. We will send you a letter to confirm dates and times.

Useful links

  • To find out more about planning for leaving hospital, click here.
  • For details about social care and support, click here.
  • For information about long-term health conditions, treatments, healthy lifestyles, and local support groups, click here.

Your feedback on the care and treatment you have received

Your experience matters and our Friends and Family Test is one way we would like to hear about it from you. Your feedback will give us a better understanding of your experience and will enable us to make improvements to our services.

Accessibility tools

Return to header