Delayed transfers of care: what it's like for patients and families
Download (PDF 1.47 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Cornwall interviewed 60 patients, family and staff to evaluate their feedback about delayed transfers of care from hospital in July 2019.
The report found that staff were under immense pressure to ensure patients leave the hospital on time. Staff are also proud of how they support patients in their discharge journeys. The majority of patients did not feel their discharge was communicated effectively with them. Although, discharge should be discussed at the beginning of inpatient stays, this does not always happen. There is a clear disconnect between people’s choices and preferences in relation to discharge, and their involvement in the discharge process. There were clear challenges faced by homeless patients and those with housing issues resulting in delayed discharges.
A number of recommendations have been made, including the need to explore and understand the family pressures and influences on decisions to leave the hospital setting in order to appreciate how to manage this effectively in the future; to keep people informed with different formats of information (wifi, TV, posters); and communication from all staff needs to be consistent.