Going into and leaving hospital

We know that being admitted to hospital and planning for a return home are stressful times. This is particularly the case where the admission to hospital is for an emergency.

Where there's the possibility of you having to go to hospital on an emergency basis the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) team, which includes your GP, nursing and social work staff, will work together to support you to get treatment at home if that's the right thing to do.

A lot of people are admitted to hospital, receive their treatment and then return home to carry on their lives as before. However, for some people making the return home will be more difficult.

The effect of your time in hospital or the ongoing effects of your reason for admission may make it difficult to pick up the threads of regular life when you get home. Where this is the case we'd want to talk over with you what supports you'll need to get home. Hospital and HSCP staff will work together to make the necessary arrangements.

How does a person ask for support?

The hospital ward staff will be able to offer advice on who to contact. Get in touch with our Initial Contact team for advice on who can help you.

Who can get the support?

Anyone who's likely to go into hospital or is going to be discharged can get support where necessary. Usually, it'll be people who have more complex needs who'll need more support.

What happens once I'm home?

It's likely that we'll want to support you with rehabilitation and re-ablement once you return home through Technology Enabled Care (TEC), which enable you to live safely and independently in your own home.

Although we'd always aim to get someone home, sometimes it won't be possible for someone to return home safely. If you're in that situation, hospital and HSCP staff will work together to ensure that we work with you to plan where you'll move to.

How much does it cost?

The advice and assessment process to help either keep you out of hospital or enable you to return home is free.

Following a discharge from hospital all care at home services are free for a period of up to 4 weeks.