Home First

Here are a few things you should know:

• Our main goal is to get you home as quickly and as safely as possible.
• It is important that when the time is right that, together, we start planning your discharge
• If needed, we will always aim to connect you with the support you need to recover at home, that could be direct reablement support or support from our wider network of partners.
• There are many services in our community that are available to help with your recovery at home, including local volunteer services.
• We will try to work with you to ensure that you are getting the support you want, while this may not be your first choice, we will always endeavour to get you the support that you need, at the right time and in the right place.
• Your safety is our priority, we will not send you home unless it is completely safe to do so.

It is important that you tell us...

• What matters most to you, during and after your stay?
• What is going well with your care?

Let us know:

• If you have any additional needs, carer support or social care so we can contact these people to help get you home quicker.
• If there are any issues with your home e.g. you forgot your keys, you live on your own, you only have an upstairs toilet, you have trouble getting around your house or if you may need a key safe installed.
• If you have any dependants, children that you are the sole carer for, a disabled or elderly family member you care for or if you have any pets at home that need to be looked after.
• If you need transportation home or if there is anyone we can contact to help with this.
• What medications you are on and if you need any of these prescribed to you while you are in hospital.

We need to know

• What would you like to be called?                         

• If you have a disability which means we need to change the way we normally do things. For example, do you have a communication need?

• Do you need an interpreter because English is not your first language?
   
• Is there anything we need to know about your current health, care or treatment, and home environment? This could affect the way we treat and care for you, and the preparations we make for your discharge.
   
• Who else would you like to be involved in conversations about your care? For example, a family member or someone who provides daily care and support for you.
   
• Do you want the Nurse in Charge to store any valuables away securely?
   
• When you are discharged, who will be collecting you from hospital, where will you be going to continue your recovery or care?

Where to go

Your admission letter will have details of where to go. There are plenty of signposts to help you find your way.

Questions or concerns?

If you have questions, please talk to a member of staff on your ward or speak to one of the Home First Discharge Coordinators who will be wearing a grey polo top. 

You can ask to speak to the Nurse in Charge if you have any issues or concerns about your care or treatment. They should be wearing a badge to identify themselves.

If you are in pain, please tell a nurse straight away.

Observations

At regular intervals, based on clinical need, we take patients:

• temperature
• blood pressure
• and any other observations, as needed.

Ward Rounds

A doctor will visit you at least once a day on weekdays.

There is always a doctor either on the ward or “on call” for medical emergencies and to review any active problems.

The wards rounds are the time when a doctor will talk with you about how you are feeling, the next steps in your care, and your readiness for discharge from hospital. It is good to start planning for discharge early on in your hospital stay.

You might find it helpful to write down the things you want to tell or ask a doctor – or please ask someone to help you do this. The doctor will answer any questions you have.

Medicines

We will ask you about medicines you normally take.

Please remember to tell us about all your tablets or treatments including inhalers, creams, patches, herbal or homeopathic medicines, and over the counter medications you take including vitamins, and nutritional supplements.  

Please make sure you tell us about any allergies you have.

Visiting

Learn more about visiting us at: Visiting our Hospitals

Keep moving

When you are able, we will encourage you to get out of bed and move around. 

This is part of our commitment to the ‘End PJ Paralysis’ campaign which aims to speed up recovery in hospital and prevent deconditioning (loss of physical strength, mental status, continence, and daily living skills which happens when people are inactive in hospital).

Did you know? For every 10 days of bed rest in hospital, the equivalent of 10 years of muscle ageing occurs in in people over 80 years of age. One week of bed rest could result in a person being unable to stand up.

Once your treatment is completed, it is important that you are discharged home or to the most appropriate place for recovery, as soon as it is safe to do so.

You will be able to leave us knowing your future care needs have been reviewed by the professionals who work in the Home First team – whether you are going home, to a rehabilitation unit, to a nursing home or to live with your family.  

Planning your discharge

Our top priority is to help you get better and support you to leave hospital when the time is right.

You will only leave hospital when you no longer need hospital care and it is safe to do so.

Your recovery will be faster when out of hospital and there will be less chance of you losing your independence.

Where next?

Home:

Most people do not need any help from services when they get home following a hospital discharge,  but for those who do, the team will make sure that the right support is in place.

We also know that it is best for people’s health and well-being to be treated away from hospital, ideally in their own home, when medically safe to do so. 

Ideally, we want you to be in your own home. If you do need help, the Home First discharge team will assess you at home within an environment familiar to you.

Together a care plan will be agreed which could include rehabilitation goals, support for carers, and any equipment which may be needed along with self-help advice.

Some people have complex needs and may require longer-term care. The NHS Home First team carries out robust assessments, before coming to a decision, with the person and their families, to determine their long term plan of care.

The Home First team provides short term support to assess and ensure that people are transferred to the most appropriate services to meet their long term needs.

As a person recovers the care calls will be gradually reduced or stopped once a person is assessed and deemed as being independent or may have met their physical potential. If a person still requires care calls then they will be referred for a social care assessment to develop the most suitable long term domiciliary package of care, and a financial eligibility assessment is carried out to determine the cost that a person is required to pay for their long term domiciliary care plan. 

If people are worried, or have any questions about Home First, they can speak to a member of staff to find out more about the service

Residential care/nursing home:
If you are not able to return home, we will help you to choose the best place for you. We hope you will be able to move in within two or three days; if not, you may have to go on a waiting list and move elsewhere for now. That is because staying too long in a hospital bed is not good for your health. 

Going home

You should make your own transport arrangements. If you are not well enough, hospital transport can be arranged. 

Ideally you should leave the ward by 10am on your day of discharge. If that is not possible, we may transfer you to the discharge lounge, where you will continue to receive care before leaving.