Your pathway home

Our priority is to help you get better and to support you to leave hospital when you no longer need care there. We know that people recover best away from the busy hospital environment, ideally in the place they call home.

At home, people do more for themselves and keep active in familiar surroundings. People tell us they enjoy better sleep and better mood among friends, family and their usual home comforts.

Staying in hospital any longer than necessary has been shown to reduce independence and confidence, lead to muscle loss and increase the risk of infections, pressure sores and incontinence.

Leaving when you no longer need hospital care is not only best for you but helps ensure beds are available for those who need hospital care.

Your hospital team may have already begun planning your discharge with you. We will
ask you, your family and carers, about your thoughts and wishes for returning home, and share these with community partners, so that we can make the best possible arrangements for you.

If you need some more support

For most people, support from family and friends in the early days of returning home will be all that is needed. We will talk this through with you and can give you details of voluntary sector partners who can provide some extra support, should you need it.

If you need more support than your friends and family can provide, there are different ways of leaving hospital, known as ‘pathways’. The team caring for you will consider which is right for you, based on your individual needs and circumstances. You might also be offered support through our Link Workers service.

Pathway 1: Recovery and rehab at home: You return home with support from community therapists and others to continue your rehabilitation and recovery.

Pathway 2: Rehab to home: You transfer to a community rehabilitation bed to continue your rehabilitation and recovery before returning to the place you call home.

Pathway 3: Community bed: You transfer to a community bed where your longer-term care needs can be assessed and arrangements put in place to meet them.

Link Workers and other support: Link Workers are independent support workers, based in our local hospitals. They can talk to you before you are discharged and make suggestions for your independence and wellbeing at home. Afterwards they can connect you to community organisations and agencies who can help.

Find out more about the different health and care professionals who you might meet on your pathway home through our staff case studies