Volunteering Service Guide: Discharge Support - From the ward through to 28 days post discharge in the home

A volunteer service that supports vulnerable patients throughout their discharge from hospital after an extended stay. The service aim is to get patients ‘home for lunch’ so that identified settling in issues and patient adjustment to being home can happen during the daytime. This is also to help acute wards with their flow of available beds and to reduce readmissions.

This guide uses learning from the Home from Hospital Service being delivered by North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust. The purpose of the guide is to provide a potential service adopter with the information needed to be able to:

a) Decide if the service would be of benefit to their organisation

b) Understand what considerations are needed to adapt the service to their environment