Your experiences of Hospital Discharge
The hospital discharge process should ensure:
- patients and the people most important to them are engaged in the process
- transfer out of hospital is safe, appropriate, and timely
- communication is clear on next steps and how to access support.
We heard:
146 people from across Sussex shared their views with us:
- 50.0% told us they felt Totally ready to leave hospital at the time they were discharged, 26.7% felt Partially ready, and 20.5% felt Not ready.
- The feature of discharge most identified as Excellent (26.7%) was staff clearly explaining the discharge process. The feature most identified as Poor was how involved friends, family and carers were in the process (40.4%).
- 47.2% respondents rated their experience of hospital discharge as Excellent/Good, 13.7% as Average, and 37.0% as Poor/Very Poor.
Respondents to our poll told us they would like to see:
Improved communication with patients, ensuring they feel engaged in the process, are clear on next steps and can prepare appropriately for discharge.
“I was moved to a different ward two hours before discharge. I wasn’t told that I was going home until about half an hour before hand.”
“I felt the decisions were made for me to be honest. I was told ‘you can go home tomorrow’ and to make arrangements for my family to collect me.”
Ensuring appropriate post-discharge care has been appropriately considered and organised, reducing the risk of post-discharge complications for patients.
“Ensure that a package of care is put into place before discharge.”
“Getting care packages ready when they say they will, not two weeks afterwards!”
Faster dispensing of medication to minimise delays to discharge, with improved co-ordination and communication between hospital staff and departments.
“They are so disorganised and the pharmacy process slowed everything up. Not enough staff involved in the process to dispense the medication. I waited for six hours.”
“Earlier communication between treating doctors and pharmacy so that any medication can be ready at the point of discharge rather than having to wait hours (once nearly 8 hours) for the medication to arrive, all this time occupying a bed I didn’t need.”
Improved involvement of family members and carers in discussions and planning for discharge, to ensure patient needs are being appropriately met.
“For them to listen to family members when someone can’t make a decision for themselves. Most staff in this ward should be retrained.”
“Listening to patient’s families and carers needs to be improved. They are the front line and have to deal with consequences when discharges from hospital go wrong.”
Better support to assist patients (and carers) with the discharge process and any post-discharge needs, including clear information on who to contact.
“More clarity about who to contact afterwards if any health concerns (my discharge was following a two week stay and significant back surgery).”
“Given a number to call or who to contact if any problems arise.”
Next steps
As the public champion for local health and care services, Healthwatch will continue to work in partnership with commissioners and providers to monitor the experiences of patients and the public in accessing health and care services locally and explore how ongoing improvements may be delivered.
We will share the attached report with Brighton and Hove City Council, NH Sussex Healthwatch England and others to share this insight and encourage its incorporation into future initiatives.
We met with staff from University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust in October to discuss our findings. We learnt more about the work they are doing to improve the discharge process, which includes more training for staff, scheduling visiting hours when ward rounds are happening so that families and carers can be involved in discussions and looking at ways to improve discharge letters.
Hospital discharge is an important topic and Healthwatch will continue to explore and monitor this.
If you want to share your experience of being discharged from hospital with us, please contact us.
