How can I help myself get discharged from hospital? (5 things)
Here are 5 top tips, to shift the balance to the correct path for you:
1. Wear your own clothes – and keep moving – and get ready. This gives the doctors and nurses a mental impression of someone who wants to go home – and helps prevent blood clots. Prepare your bag. Think about transport home and setting up your house (e.g. get meals delivered).2. Ask daily when you are being discharged – on a daily basis from day 3 onwards. Ask for the discharge date and encourage your medical team to work towards that, e.g. with comments like,
“I’m going home on Wednesday. Please make sure all is sorted by then.”
3. Appoint one person (as your advocate) if you need help with your discharge – appoint one person to act as go-between with doctors and nurses. If there are more than one family member doing this, it can lead to mixed messages and delay discharge.
4. Show your knowledge – on ward rounds, to the medical team. Write down the diagnosis, treatment plan (and changes to both) – and their names. This should include the name of your consultant, the senior doctor in charge of your care, and his/her secretary’s phone number. Keep notes.
5. Discharge summary and medication – do not leave without a copy of your discharge summary and current medication list.
You can discharge yourself anytime
Remember a hospital is not a prison and you can discharge yourself anytime. But it’s best to do it with the doctors and nurses agreement.
Most stays are 6-7 days, or less. No one likes being in hospital. If you are in two weeks or more, that is a concern. It usually means that you are not fuller better, and/or a complication or new illness has happened.
Being discharged safely is another issue, and it is a fine balance between 4 things:
- Getting the diagnosis and treatment right
- Getting better – being in long enough to make sure you have a clear diagnosis and you are getting better
- Preventing complications – not being in any longer than necessary and experience complications related to immobility (blood clots in legs and lungs) or acquiring an infection from the hospital
- Risking readmission – being discharged too soon without your problem(s) sorted and risk readmission.
Readmission
There is a significant risk (10%) of readmission (with the same problem) especially in the first week after discharge. If this happens, it usually implies that the problem was not sorted. And that second admission is often longer than the first.
This is why you should not push for home if the doctors say that readmission is likely – e.g. if you take your own discharge (which is your right) against their advice.
Summary
We have described how can I help myself get discharged from hospital (5 things). We hope it’s clearer now what you can do to help yourself.
Last Reviewed on 17 June 2024