Discharge Project 2015

Report - 1 April 2016

We reviewed the discharge process from hospitals throughout the borough. We mapped the process of patient discharge from hospital to home, and then asked patients and carers for their feedback and experiences.

What we did

Due to challenges in accessing patients who have gone through the discharge process, we used our local network of contacts, and conducted outreach sessions to 11 community organisations.

Additionally we visited the inpatient unit at Teddington Memorial Hospital, visited three wards at West Middlesex University Hospital, collaborated with Healthwatch Kingston on visits to Kingston Hospital, and finally teamed up with Community Nursing team from Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust. 

We conducted an online and paper survey which was sent to organisations across the borough and also carried out semi-structured interviews with patients. 

Summary

In total we gathered 120 patient experiences of the discharge process between July 2015 and January 2016.

Here are main findings of the report:

  1. some patients did not feel that had been given the information they needed about discharge
  2. patients did not feel they had enough support following discharge
  3. patients experienced poor coordination between hospital and community services

Based on these findings seven recommendations were made to West Middlesex University Hospital and Kingston Hospital. 

For more details and the Hospital's responses to our recommendations please read our Full Report or Executive Summary. 

Downloads

For further information you can read our full report or executive summary available for download below. 

Full Report
Download (PDF 375 KB)
Executive Summary
Download (PDF 212 KB)

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