Enter and view: Pinetum Care Home, Chester - Focussing on Discharge to Assess Beds

Healthwatch Cheshire West undertook this Enter and View on 23 January 2024 to Pinetum Care Home in Chester. Pinetum offers care for up to 45 people who require nursing and respite care, including those who are living with the early stages of dementia. It also offers specialist care for adults with complex needs such as brain and spinal injury.

This report looks solely at the Discharge to Assess Beds in the home and should be read in conjunction with the full report of the Enter and View here: https://nds.healthwatch.co.uk/reports-library/enter-and-view-pinetum-care-home-chester

Pinetum has 12 Discharge to Assess beds, split between the first floor and the ground floor. At the time of the visit all of the beds were occupied. Each bed is in one of the regular rooms Pinetum has and is indistinguishable from other rooms in the home. Healthwatch Cheshire West spoke to eight of the occupants. The four others were asleep or indisposed at the time of the visit.

The report finds that transfers from hospital to the care home seem to run smoothly. In particular, the report notes that it is an excellent policy to refuse a discharge from hospital unless the patient has one month’s medication with them. Communication between the various services appears to be excellent with each step of the process in place in a timely manner. However, support from the social work team seems to be less consistent among those interviewed. Integration into the care home and support from care home staff works well.

The report makes no recommendations, finding that the Discharge to Assess system seems to be working well.