Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman 11 May 2016
- This report focuses on nine experiences drawn from recent complaints which illustrate the problems with regards to unsafe discharge from hospital. The most serious issues identified are:
- Issue one: Patients being discharged before they are clinically ready to leave hospital
- Issue two: Patients not being assessed or consulted properly before their discharge
- Issue three: Relatives and carers not being told that their loved one has been discharged
- Issue four: Patients being discharged with no home-care plan in place or being kept in hospital due to poor co-ordination across services
- The report highlights three key areas that warrant particular attention:
- Failures to check people's mental capacity and offer legal protections for those who lack capacity
- Carers and relatives not being treated as partners in discharge planning
- Poor co-ordination within and between services
