Report describes hospital discharge difficulties in the pandemic

Healthwatch England and the British Red Cross have published 590 people's stories of leaving hospital during COVID-19 which concludes the 'discharge to assess' model could work nationally, but it relies on people's whole needs being assessed and addressed in the community, and this often does not happen in practice.

The report noted difficulties with follow-up visits and assessments that didn't happen, follow-up contact that wasn't made, patients not being prepared for discharge, lack of communication, discharges at night with little support, and delays in Covid-19 testing which meant people were discharged into the community without their results.

However, the benefits of a national approach to discharge and better joined up working between health and social care were noted.