Hospital Discharge Service

The type of support offered is broken down into three main groups:

• Advocacy and advice
• Practical support
• Emotional support

Across these groups we offer:

• Help finding alternative accommodation or accessing benefits
• Support with long term tenancy or financial management
• Support in accessing appropriate services relating to mental or physical health
• Developing domestic or life skills, as well as social skills or behaviour management
• Emotional support and advice
• Risk assessment to help in establishing personal safety and security
• Increasing social engagement and reducing isolation

• To support customers in accessing safe and secure housing
• To support customers following discharge in the community to ensure they are managing independent living
• Reduce pressures on clinical ward staff to resolve housing related issues
• To improve patient flow through services
• To provide cost savings to trusts through prevention of delayed discharge and reduction in avoidable readmission

Based from the wards, our team form part of the customers’ discharge planning.

At the point of admission, customers will receive an initial assessment from one of our expert support team. This session will be used to identify any specific areas of need, with the support worker and customer working collaboratively to create a support plan.

The plan will be person centred and can be adapted over time as customer needs change. All with the aim of providing a timely discharge into the community.

The number of contacts provided will vary depending on the customer’s needs but it is likely that on entering the service, a customer will receive more intensive support and that this will be phased down over time.

Partnership working is so important and we recognise that we may only be one part of a customer’s support plan. We always aim to liaise closely with other agencies who are already working with our customers, to enable the best possible outcomes.