University Hospital Lewisham: Report on patient discharge
Download (PDF 766.23 KB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Lewisham engaged with 72 patients at the University Hospital Lewisham, to gather their views about hospital discharge, between March and May 2017.
The work was done as part of a programme of engagement on hospital discharge in Lewisham.
The report identifies a number of key issues. There is no clear procedure or an agreed plan in place for hospital discharge. Relatives or carers of the patient were not consistently informed when a patient is discharged. Communication between staff and patients was described as ‘good’. However, communication between the nursing staff and consultants or doctors was not always updated regularly.
One patient said, “I was discharged too soon and ended up straight back in hospital within 24 hours…. I was told that I was going home at 9.00 but I was still in the hospital at 17:00…. By the time I got home I was feeling poorly and my daughter called 999 and I was readmitted to University Hospital Lewisham”.
The report made 13 recommendations. It generally recommends that staff follow the trust’s policy where it is available.
In response, the trust welcomed the report and found it informative to help the trust continue improve their service to patients. A detailed and comprehensive response has been incorporated in the report.