Published on: 4 April 2023
People in Sunderland are being asked for their views to help improve hospital discharge at Sunderland Royal Hospital.
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust is working with Healthwatch Sunderland to hear from anyone who has been discharged from Sunderland Royal Hospital in the last year.
The Trust is keen to understand people’s experience of being discharged from hospital to home or to another care setting. It wants to shine a spotlight on the support offered to patients and their carers when supporting someone leaving hospital to recover at home.
This feedback will help the Trust to shape and improve its discharge process. People will be asked a number of questions based on their own experience.
The Trust is keen to understand if:
- patients and their families were given an estimated discharge date on admission.
- they felt involved in decisions made about discharge from hospital.
- patients and their loved ones felt informed about the care plan being put into place to support you/your loved one, after discharge.
- patients and their relatives were able to discuss any worries about discharge with a member of staff.
- a community bed was discussed. A community bed is a bed in a local care facility where some patients are moved if they can’t go home straight away or need extra support.
This survey is completely anonymous and should only take 5-10 minutes to complete. The closing date for the survey is Friday 30th April 2023. You can complete the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6RLRGVN. If you are interested in talking directly to Healthwatch Sunderland about your experience please contact (0191) 514 7145.
Anna Hargrave, Director of Community Services at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Leaving hospital is an important part of a patient’s journey and their overall experience of hospital care. Over the last year, we have been working hard to improve the hospital discharge process. We want to continue to build on that work.
“We are keen to understand from people what their experience of being discharged from hospital in Sunderland has been like. This is so that we can we can continue to improve and overcome any challenges they may have encountered.
“If you, or a loved one has been discharged from Sunderland Royal Hospital in the last year, we would love to hear from you and encourage you to get involved. Your feedback is incredibly important and will help us to continue to make vital improvements to our services.”
Tara Johnson, Project Lead at Healthwatch Sunderland, said: “Leaving hospital for patients and their relatives can be sometimes be overwhelming. It’s important that patients feel informed and a part of the process. By gathering patients feedback we are able to help the Trust improve its discharge processes for the future.”
