After a stay in hospital

Hospital discharge

If you are already receiving support that has been arranged with adult social care please let the Customer Access Team know that you are in hospital, you can ask a friend or relative to do this on your behalf if necessary. They can arrange to have your social care services stopped until you are ready to leave hospital.

After a stay in hospital most people can return to their own home although some may need ongoing health or social care support. The hospital discharge team will talk to you about returning home with support from health and or Social Care. Once you are back home an assessment will be completed to see what support you need. A small number of people may have needs which cannot be met in their own homes and may need to move into a care home on a temporary basis or to receive NHS continuing care.

Intermediate care

Intermediate care is provided jointly by health and adult social care teams. It provides a range of services for older and vulnerable people that aim to:

• Help people to remain as independent as possible in the community by providing a short-term rehabilitation programme in order to help people to reach their individual potential and to remain independent in their own homes.

• Prevent inappropriate hospital admission and facilitate timely discharge

• Help to reduce the need for long-term residential and nursing placements. This service is provided for up to six weeks within a person's own home or dedicated setting such as a care home. The Reablement service provide re-ablement support at home for up to six weeks, to support people to regain their confidence and be able to complete activities of daily living such as meal preparation, washing and dressing after a health crisis, with the aim of maximising people's potential to live independently.

NHS continuing care

Some people need longer term health care after a stay in hospital. Continuing care is provided in hospital, in nursing homes or at home wherever possible. The doctor who is responsible for your care whilst you are in hospital will talk to you, your family, adult social care and other health professionals about how best this care can be provided to meet your needs.

For further details contact 01226 773300. The hospital social work team can be contacted on 01226 434467.