Patient experiences of hospital discharge – June 2017

Healthwatch Slough, Healthwatch Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead, Healthwatch Bucks, Healthwatch Wokingham, Healthwatch Bracknell Forest, Healthwatch Hampshire and Healthwatch Surrey undertook research on hospital discharge. 114 people completed a survey.

The majority of respondents reported that they felt involved in decisions about their discharge from hospital and that a discharge plan was made with them and/or their family. However, over a quarter of respondents reported that this did not take place. 

The majority of respondents felt that their discharge plan met their needs ‘definitely’ or ‘to some extent’. However, 15% of respondents reported that hospital staff did not discuss with them whether they needed any further health or social care services after leaving hospital, although they would have liked this to happen.

 61% of respondents reported that their discharge was delayed. The most common reason given for delayed discharge was waiting for medication. Most commonly, respondents reported that the delay in their discharge lasted ‘longer than 2 hours but not longer than 4 hours’. 

The majority of respondents reported that they felt that they were treated with dignity and respect during their stay in hospital. 67% of respondents reported that a member of staff explained the purpose of the medicines they were taking home in a way that they could understand. However, just over half of all respondents reported that they had to repeat their medical history several times

15.5% of respondents reported that when they left hospital, they did not know what would happen next with their care. 22.4% of respondents who required further services following their discharge from hospital reported that they did not get the planned services. Of the respondents who did receive planned services, 51.1% reported that they were satisfactory. Furthermore, 50.9% of respondents reported that they needed ongoing support but that this was not happening.