Covid-19 emergency hospital discharge procedures put under spotlight by Telford watchdog
A major piece of work is being carried out by a Telford health watchdog to find out the full impact of introducing emergency measures to discharge hospital patients rapidly during the coronavirus outbreak.
As the full scale of the pandemic became apparent in March, hospitals were told to discharge patients who no longer needed medical care within just two hours.
A new project, which is being supported by Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin, aims to gather stories from patients, carers and families in the borough to understand the benefits and challenges these extraordinary arrangements brought.
The rapid measures were seen as necessary in order to free up beds for the expected sudden influx of a large number of Covid-19 patients.
It involved a range of emergency arrangements being introduced.
These included care and support needs being assessed after rather than before a patient left hospital.
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People were moved to the first available bed in a care home in the first instance, and any further care or support needs were fully funded by the NHS to remove the time lost to processes such as means testing.
The changes have helped manage the increased demand placed on hospitals by coronavirus, but the subsequent effects of the emergency measures on those most closely affected have not yet been widely assessed.
Healthwatch England, with support from the British Red Cross and Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin, is carrying out the work to better understand the impact that this approach has had.
It aims to gather vital learning ahead of a possible second wave of mass infections and hospital admissions.
The project will include a large scale survey which will run until August 16 and will be particularly focused on groups who are known to have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, including older people and those from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.
Paul Shirley, general manager at Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin, said: "We would like to hear from people about their experiences of hospital discharge during Covid-19, so we can share them with health care systems as a whole and where needed make improvements or share good practice.”
People can access the survey by visiting tell-us-about-your-experience-leaving-hospital-during-covid-19
Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin gathers people's views on health and social care services, helping to shape healthcare for the future and finding where any improvements may be needed.
Go to www.healthwatchtelfordandwrekin.co.uk for more details.
