Homelessness: experiences of hospital discharge and post-discharge care
Download (PDF 1.86 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Leicester and Healthwatch Leicestershire wanted to understand the experience of hospital admissions and discharge of homeless people and the ease of accessing post discharge care in the community. They spoke to 112 people.
They found a real passion, commitment and motivation, which was evidenced in some excellent collaborative working examples and service provision. There was evidence of strong partnership working and a real commitment to continuous improvement for the benefit of the people they worked with. There was a strong collaboration between different elements of the service to ensure that where possible people did not fall through the net.
There were however disparities that became apparent during the study, particularly between what staff providing services and homeless people told Healthwatch about their experiences of hospital discharge and access to community health services. The majority of homeless people in the study were in some form of temporary accommodation, many supported through a range of hostel accommodation, drop-ins and day services run by the voluntary, community and charitable groups.
Most of the people in the study did not recognise that any form of assessment under DTR had taken place whilst in hospital or that any plan had been drawn up to address their housing or on-going health needs following discharge.
Most respondents also did not believe that they had left hospital with a clear plan to address on-going health needs and this view was supported by staff who worked with them after discharge. Access to on-going mental health services was highlighted as a particular problem and again supported by the staff at their temporary accommodation. There were clearly issues highlighted about how information is shared and communicated to patients upon discharge and a tightening up of the procedures for communicating with patients and the methods of doing so were clearly highlighted.
The report contains five recommendations.