Post-discharge support a concern for patients

A new survey has revealed that, whilst the majority of patients were positive about their hospital care, a significant minority experienced problems on discharge.

The Care Quality Commission’s nationwide survey found that respondents are facing issues regarding arrangements and information received when leaving hospital, and access to support and further services once at home. This was a particular concern for people who self-reported as being frail.

The survey asked almost 77,000 adults to give their opinions on the care they received having stayed in hospital for at least one night during July last year, including quality of information and communication with staff, whether they were given enough privacy, the amount of support given to help them eat and drink, and on their discharge arrangements.

Most respondents (81 per cent) felt they had ‘always’ been treated with dignity and respect during their hospital stay and 90 per cent said they were ‘always’ given enough privacy when being examined. Additionally, of those who had an operation while in hospital, 80 per cent said that staff answered their questions in a way they could understand ‘completely’, while 79 per cent said they ‘always’ had confidence and trust in the doctors treating them.

However, for patients with a planned admission to hospital, 21 per cent reported that their admission date had been changed by the hospital at least once, and five per cent reported two or three changes. Of those surveyed, the proportion who said they had to wait a long time before getting a bed has increased since last year.

Furthermore, 40 per cent left hospital without printed or written information telling them what they should do or not do after discharge, and, of those who were given medication to take home, 44 per cent were not told about the possible side effects to watch out for.

Of the 41 per cent of people who said that their discharge from hospital was delayed, 89 per cent waited longer than one hour, and 26 per cent said they were delayed for longer than four hours.

Lastly, 33 per cent of frail people responding to the survey said the care and support they expected was not available when they needed it after leaving hospital. This is significantly higher than the 20 per cent of non-frail patients who said this.

Ted Baker, Chief Inspector of Hospitals said: “This year’s results indicate that people are facing longer discharge delays and reveal continued concerns around the quality of information provided when they are ready to return home. It is particularly worrying that for people who self-report as being frail, the difficulties in accessing support after leaving hospital were even greater.

“The recent Covid-19 crisis has highlighted in very stark terms the interdependency of health and social care. While this survey was carried out before the pandemic spread to the UK, the results provide further evidence for the need for greater collaboration and demonstrate that where services are not integrated, this can have a detrimental impact on how people experience care.

“NHS trusts should reflect on their own survey results to help identify what individual changes they can make to drive improvements, but there is also a wider need for all parts of the health and care system to come together to support staff in managing the gradual return of more routine inpatient services alongside continued Covid-19 demand, and ensure the best quality of care for everyone.”