What is Discharge to Assess?
Discharge to Assess helps people return home after being in the hospital. The goal is to support you in getting home as soon as it’s safe and prevent any unnecessary time spent in the hospital. This service makes sure that your care needs are carefully checked in the comfort of your own home by health and social care professionals. It also helps make sure you have the right level of care and support, without giving you more help than you actually need.
This service is free when you first access it, though there may be costs for ongoing support depending on further assessments. You will be informed in advance if any charges apply, and we’ll make sure you know your options.
What we do
Once you're home, we’ll work with you to help you stay as independent as possible. We’ll look at how you’re doing and what support you have from family or friends, and we can arrange extra help if needed. Following an assessment if it is found that you need any equipment to make daily tasks easier, we’ll help you get it.
With your consent, we might also refer you to other teams for more options on how to maintain your independence. We work with many community and volunteer services, so we can provide you with helpful information if you want it.
If you need more help
If, after talking together, we think you may not be fully supported at home, we’ll discuss options for temporary care placements. This means you could stay somewhere else for a while to get the care you need before returning home. If no temporary placements are available, you may need to return to the hospital, but we’ll make sure you’re still receiving the right care.
If you return to a hospital bed temporarily, this is part of the process to make sure we can meet all of your care needs. It helps us create a safe plan for when you are ready to leave again. Your needs will be checked regularly, and we’ll review everything to make sure you’re getting the right support.
What you need to know
Before you leave the hospital, please make sure your home is ready for your return. This means having food in the house, heating on, comfortable clothes and footwear that you can walk in safely. If you can’t get your home ready, please talk to a member of staff before you leave the hospital.
We also ask that a family member, friend, or someone close to you picks you up from the hospital, if possible. If that’s not an option, we’ll arrange transport to take you home, and we’ll be there when you arrive.
It’s important that either you or someone close to you has a key or knows the code for your key safe so that we can access your home when you return.
On the day of your discharge, the hospital staff will help you with everything, like making sure you have your medications, discharge information, and ensuring all necessary referrals are made. If you need more help once you’re home, you can contact the Community Health and Social Care services via the Integrated Care community team on 01946 853333
Confidentiality
‘The Trust’s vision is to keep your information safe in our hands.’ We promise to use your information fairly and legally, and in-line with local and national policies. You have a right to understand how your information is used and you can request a copy of the information we hold about you at any time.
For further information on confidentiality contact the Information Governance Team:
Information.Governance@ncic.nhs.uk | 01228 603961
Feedback
We appreciate and encourage feedback, which helps us to improve our services. If you have any comments, compliments or concerns to make about your care, please contact the Patient, Advice & Liaison Service:
pals@ncic.nhs.uk | 01228 814008 or 01946 523818
If you would like to raise a complaint regarding your care, please contact the Complaints Department:
complaints@ncic.nhs.uk | 01228 936302