Patient experience of discharge from the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital

Healthwatch Shropshire, in partnership with Healthwatch Telford and Wrekin, undertook a two stage research project to gather patients views of the hospital discharge process for the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. This involved speaking to 57 patients and family members across four wards and a follow up telephone questionnaire with 35 patients and family members. The work was carried out as part of Healthwatch Shropshire ongoing monitoring where at a stakeholder group meeting in 2016, patient experience of discharge was raised.

The interviews at the hospital sought the patients experience of:

If the discharge process had been discussed;

If the process was being planned.

How were patients involved in the discharge process.

The telephone interview the issues discussed were:

Discharge day and destination;

Time and wait for discharge;

Medication;

Support at home.

Overall the feedback showed that people were satisfied with their experience of the discharge

process at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. However, the results also show that the process does

not always work well, all the time for every patient and their family.