What happens when it’s time to go home after a stay in hospital? The process of leaving hospital to go home is called discharge. We want to make sure you are safe when you leave hospital and receive the care and support you need after your hospital stay.

Meet some of the team who are integral in getting you back home to your life as safely and smoothly as possible.

Jo Lewis is a Clinical Nurse Consultant on Ward 6A. She explains going home as soon as you can is important, but it can’t come at the expense of your safety.

‘Patients want to be in their own environment, but it can’t be detrimental to their safety. So, discharge planning happens day zero. We talk about who’s at home to support you and any other supports we might need to put in place to get you home. And it’s continual, it happens on day zero right up through to discharge.’

6A is the Acute Medicine Unit, an important part of CHS’s approach to improving patient flow and timely care. Discharge planning is an extremely important part of what Jo and her team do and she has some insights on getting patients home in a timely way.

‘Patient involvement is very important. So, if we can see the plan is for discharge the next day, there are things we are looking to organise before you go home – such as organising with pharmacy to make sure you have your medication, booking follow-up appointments, organising discharge letters and working on a time for you to go home.

Connor Lynch is a Clinical Care Coordinator, also in 6A. His role comes into play the moment a decision is made for a patient to leave the hospital.

‘I see my role as two main things, it’s about creating flow and creating capacity.

‘If I can be efficient and effective in that role then people will be able to get discharged sooner and we can get them back to their normal lives much faster.

‘It also creates capacity for patients who most need it. We’re drawing people out of the emergency department into the correct space much faster. The process is smoother, and it means people are getting access to care faster – their length of stay is reduced and, again, they get back to their lives quicker.’

Conner also has shared some of the ways he helps get people home faster.

‘We to take an interdisciplinary approach, rely on all the people in the room and always think creatively. The easiest course of action might be to just let a person stay in hospital, but if we think about it, explore all the options and work with the patient, often we can find a way to get someone home earlier.’

Hospital in the Home (HITH) is one such option.

Dr Karyn Cuthbert heads up HITH at Canberra Hospital. The HITH service provides an ‘earlier transfer home’ option from the hospital ward – this helps patient flow by freeing up a ward bed for another patient sooner.

‘Most illnesses that bring patients to the hospital have a turning point. Patients can be referred to HITH when they're at the stage where they still need daily nursing care and medical input that’s too complex for a full discharge but can continue their hospital level treatment at home. Patients can also be admitted to HITH directly from the Emergency Department or their GP.’

Returning to their lives can be so important for patients, as Karyn explained when it came to a young woman who’d just given birth to her second child and developed a kidney infection.

‘She transferred to HITH after one day in the Acute Medical Unit to continue intravenous antibiotics at home until her pain and fevers improved enough to not need intravenous treatment (which was for another five days). She was very grateful to be able to go home with her newborn baby where she could more comfortably breast feed and care for him and her other child.’

At CHS the discharge or transfer time is 10am. You can find out more about discharge here.

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