On Wednesday 20^th September, as part of Worcestershire Association of Carers 20th Anniversary celebration events, Worcestershire Health and Care Trust and the NHS Acute Hospitals Trust teamed up with the Association of Carers to deliver a Discharge Session. Also present at the event were Redditch and Bromsgrove Council Lifeline and Age UK: Home from Hospital. 

As an association, we are looking at ways of improving the discharge process for carers, so during the event, we asked staff and carers to share with us their experiences of hospital discharge, asking them what went well and what could be useful to other carers at the time of discharge. 

During our discussions, the first question that we asked was: What experience have you had of Hospital Discharge, in either the NHS Acute Hospitals or the NHS Community Hospitals?

The most common answer to that question was that there seemed to be a lack of communication, which caused unnecessary frustration for carers.

Although many carers have felt frustrated throughout the discharge process, there were some positives that have come out of it. Carers explained that one of the main things that had gone well for them during their discharge processes were that staff members were kind, helpful and friendly.

The final question that we asked the group was what would be useful to you at discharge from the Acute Hospital and/or Community Hospital?

The top replies were: carers being invited to discharge meetings, better communication between staff and agencies and making families/carers aware of where and when the discharge will occur, and members of staff being able to speak one-to-one with carers so that they have a chance to ask their questions.  

Those present at the event were able to see a special guest- Arrow the therapy dog.

                                              

Overall, the event was well attended.

 

Quotes from attendees on the day:

“Just simply highlighting the role and utmost importance of carers – bringing them more to the foreground.  Excellent idea to bring us all together to share experiences, pool ideas and come to some positive conclusions as to the way forward in improving things”

“If what has been spoken of today has any effect on patients discharge care then meeting like this one should happen more often”

Since the event, social workers have been working more closely with WICH, the Acute and the Health and care trust to discuss the feedback gained at the event.