CHS Healthcare highlighted in NHS England guide to improving hospital discharge

CHS Healthcare is featured for good practice in an NHS England guide on how to improve hospital discharge.

Our work is highlighted in the Quick Guide on improving hospital discharge into the care sector, designed to share good practice across the whole of the NHS.

The guide cites our work for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, providing the personalised support for families choosing care homes and in so doing, reducing delays to discharge by ten days.

Our work was featured as an example of practical solutions to improve patient experience and involvement in hospital discharge.

Lancashire is one of 21 hospital discharge schemes CHS Healthcare is currently commissioned to provide. These include personalised support for patients who need to choose a care home as they are moving from hospital to 24-hour care and equally, we manage a range of discharge to assess services. We also organise packages of care for people who are returning to their own home after hospital.

Our work is cited for improving the patient and family’s experience of and involvement in the discharge process. Our advisers work flexibly, including evenings and weekends, meeting families, accompanying them on care home visits and helping them to information gather and make a supported, informed choice of care home.

The NHS England Guide also highlights discharge to assess as being a valuable means of avoiding unnecessary hospital stays and states that assessments of long term care needs should take place out of hospital whenever possible.

CHS Healthcare chief executive Dr Richard Newland commented: “We are really delighted to be included in this NHS England guide on improving hospital discharge into the care sector. Improving hospital discharge is our core service and is something we recognise as being absolutely essential for the whole health system.

“We are very pleased to be featured in this guide, soon after being highlighted in Lord Carter’s landmark report on NHS productivity as an example of good practice we can be widely adopted.

“We have been working in hospital discharge for two decades: we know the sticking points and the challenges; we know how to address problems and what works. Our services very significantly improve the experience of patients and families and at the same time, substantially reduces delays to discharge.”

In each hospital discharge service, usual key performance indicators are: patient and family contacted within 24 hours of referral (including evenings and weekends). Home chosen within two days of referral and transfer from hospital to care home within five days. In discharge to assess services, time from referral to transfer from hospital is typically less than four days.

New hospital discharge services can be set up within just six weeks.