Live Life Team
The health professional or consultant in charge of your treatment shall decide when will be the right time for you to leave the hospital after determining your progress. The health care consultant will also look into planning and execution of your discharge. He will also discuss the necessary precautions taken by you at home which shall eventually lead to full recovery.
Simple discharge
Health care consultant often refer a ‘simple discharge’, when a patient once discharged will need simple precaution and care without complicated procedures to be followed at home.
Complex discharge
Heath care consultants often refer a ‘complex discharge’ when the requirement of the discharged patient are complex in nature. For example:
- To be discharged to residential or nursing home or carer’s home
- Complicated planning will be required for the current social and health care needs
- After discharge care services from community will be required
- District nurse or GP and also the hospital staff will be involved in your discharge procedures. Few organizations can also be involved at times excluding the NHS like:
- Voluntarily run transport facilities, independent nursing home, private residential home
- Town and city councils who provide social services.
Getting discharged and returning home:
Once admitted in the hospital, a plan is prepared by the health care consultant for treatment which also involves your discharge procedure. To avoid last minute delay it is done within 24 hours.
To provide best possible support after discharge from the hospital, the below mentioned factors will be considered:
Circumstances at home
Carer or Family wishes
Wishes and requirement of the patient.
Your discharge date:
A tentative date is fixed within 24 hours for your discharge from the hospital. In case if surgery or treatment is preplanned, the date for discharge is decided before you get admitted in the hospital. The discharge date will be intimated to you by your healthcare consultant. Discharging patients can be any time like during bank holidays, weekends or weekdays.
Discharge date will depend on the following factors:
Support system available at home
How soon your health progresses during your hospital stay
On a day to day basis the tentative discharge date is reviewed by the healthcare consultant. In case there is possibility of any change you shall be informed. As the discharge date is approaching, the time of the discharge will be informed which will help you to plan further.
Leaving hospital
The Doctor or consultant responsible for your treatment shall decide the appropriate time for discharge. There can be a chance of discharging you from one ward to another. Staffed with nurses, few hospitals also provide discharge lounges. Where in once you are discharged from the hospital bed, these lounges can be used to wait till the formalities are completed. For example:
Waiting for a transport service, friend or relative to collect you,
Waiting for medication to be taken at home.
Returning home
Once discharged, you can be very anxious to come home at the earliest. Hence it is very important to plan your needs in advance. This aspect can be often underestimated by few patients.
It can be a very difficult at times to leave the hospital in the below mentioned scenarios:
Change in few activities carried out before admitting in the hospital,
Difficulty in carry out day to day activities,
Had a long stay in the hospital
