Hospital discharge
Whether your hospital stay was planned or unexpected, if you need help afterwards then there are various sources of support.
Discharge to Assess (D2A)
When you are considered medically fit for discharge, you are likely to be visited by someone responsible for your discharge, often a nurse. To help understand what level of ongoing support you are likely to need they will use a process called ‘discharge to assess’ (D2A).
D2A is about supporting people to leave hospital, when safe to do so, and continuing their care and assessment out of hospital. It means that you can be assessed for your longer-term needs in the right place, such as in your own home or a care home.
If you are being discharged back home, the person supporting you may identify local organisations that can assist with tasks such as:
- Shopping
- Preparing meals
- Collecting prescriptions
- Putting the heating on
- Transport
- Wellness checks
You may also be able to contact these organisations directly to request their support. The following local charities may provide home from hospital services:
If you need long-term care following discharge, this should be identified as part of your care assessment, which you can read more about here.
Intermediate care
If the outcome of the discharge process is you need temporary care to help you get back on your feet, you may be eligible for funding to help cover this cost.
Intermediate care provides funding for up to six weeks through either the NHS, the local authority or a combination of both. This can be for care and support services, whether at home or in a care home.
You might be eligible for intermediate care if the funding could help achieve one or more of the following:
- support timely discharge from hospital and help you be as independent as possible, or
- maximise your recovery and prevent you moving into permanent residential care before you really need to, or
- maximise your potential for further recovery before considering your eligibility for NHS CHC, or
- help you avoid going into hospital unnecessarily.
NHS complaints
Should you need to raise a complaint about your time in hospital or medical treatment, you can speak to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). PALS offers confidential advice, support and information on health-related matters.
In Scotland PALS are known as the Patient Advice and Support Service (PASS). In Northern Ireland it is the Patient and Client Council (PCC).
You can ask PALS to intervene on your behalf and try to resolve the issue informally and prevent it escalating to a formal complaint. If this is unsuccessful then PALS will advise you on the formal complaints procedure.
You must generally raise a formal complaint within 12 months of an event occurring, or within 12 months of the date you were first made aware of the issue.
If your complaint is not resolved through PALS or the formal complaints procedure, then you can escalate to the Ombudsman (PHSO).
Benefits in hospital
If you receive:
- Attendance Allowance (AA)
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA), or
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP),
You should contact the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) when you first go into hospital and once you have been discharged.
You can continue to receive these benefits if your stay in hospital is less than 28 days. If you have more than one hospital visit with less than 28 days of separation, then the length of each hospital visit will be combined.
If your stay in hospital extends beyond 28 days then your AA, DLA or PIP may be suspended until you are discharged, at which point it may restart.
If you are unsure how any benefits you receive might be affected by a stay in hospital, you should contact the DWP to seek clarification.