A survey, conducted on over 75,000 inpatients across 143 NHS Trusts, found that hospital discharge delays and access to support once home are a huge worry for people, even though most respondents were happy with the care they received in hospital.

Fit enough for hospital discharge?

One third of frail patients are not receiving the support they need to access care at home. People languish in hospital because they are not fit enough for hospital discharge.

Overworked hospital physios struggle to make the necessary improvements, especially when the patient doesn’t have any one advocating for them in hospital.

If someone cannot move well, they are not likely to increase mobility from a hospital bed. If someone is confused and worried or living with dementia for example, they are not likely to suddenly gain the confidence they need to be discharged on their own. But if they know someone will be there to help them at home, everything changes.

Pre-Hab

The very best is to introduce a lovely carer to patient before they are admitted to hospital and some enlightened hospital admittance teams are joining up in this way. When they do much improved outcomes are achieved.  We like it because the carer knows exactly what the patient likes, knows the layout of the home and they are prepared for whatever is  likely to be needed of them. The patient gets to know the carer before they go in and they know as soon as they are ready to leave, that person will be ready and waiting for them.

Help to recover at home for free

Matt Hancock, said: “We know for the majority of people the road to recovery can be quicker when they receive care and support in the comfort of their own home”

And in our view, the NHS Continuing Healthcare (NHS CHC) assessments restarting from September is great news. It helps those with complex health needs to access the care they need at home for free.

From September 1, the NHS will access £588 million in funding to provide up to six weeks of additional support so people, including older people, can receive ongoing help with their recovery and rehabilitation.

Naysayers have logged their concern because there are not enough resources to service all the care that will be needed at home. They sight the fact that traditional care companies have suffered with staffing levels and are unable to recruit enough good carers and they have flagged that people may get more unwell if they are left on their own because the scheduled care cannot actually be provided.

Trusted Assessors deal with discharges

In our experience, the trusted assessors who will manage the fund know what they are doing. They know the providers who can deliver the right services locally. Those who have used us to help people home, have always  followed up. And the discharge has been executed well with great outcomes for the patient.

We have worked with discharge teams throughout the pandemic so far and we love it! For us it’s a core mission. Our carers take great pride in helping ‘spring people’ from hospital.

Once we’ve “sprung you out” we form a bubble with you

Thanks to the amazing people coming forward to work with us, we have enough experts by experience on our teams across East and West Kent, Sussex and Surrey to match someone with every client carefully. Client and carer form a bubble, which we protect to ensure carer and client remain safe.

If the dreaded ‘second wave’ happens, it’s good to know the bubble is already formed, protected, and ready to provide as much support as needed for however long the next wave of COVID-19 lasts.

See Homecare insight for further reading