Elderly patients going home happier and more informed about their ongoing care

PICTURED: (From left) Siân Orton, Quality Improvement Matron; Rebecca Parcell, Service Manager for Care of the Elderly and Frailty; Siona Nelson, Registered Nurse; Jade Vanstone, Health Care Support Worker; Samantha Evans, OPAU Ward manager and Richard Young, Care of the Elderly Clinical Nurse Specialist.

Patients being discharged from the Older Persons Assessment Unit (OPAU) in Morriston Hospital are now armed with clearer information and contact details to continue their care at home.

A new ‘going home’ leaflet is now given to patients once their medical treatment has finished and they are ready to leave the unit. It contains details about their care, changes to medication, next steps and advice about what to do when they get home. It also includes useful contacts for follow up appointments.

The OPAU team developed the leaflet following discussions with patients, family and their carers, and feedback has been hugely positive.

Siân Orton, Quality Improvement Matron, was among the staff involved in creating the leaflet.

She said: "After speaking to relatives about a patient’s discharge, it was evident that the terminology used within the leaflet needed to be clearer and not in medical terms that only clinicians would understand.

PICTURED: The going home leaflet has proved a big success with patients.

“These discussions guided us in what information was needed in a discharge leaflet – what does the patient’s care involve, what changes to medication have been made, what teams are supporting the patient to full recovery and who are they meant to contact if they have any concerns or queries?

“The biggest benefits are to the patient and families, but for staff it also acts as a type of checklist to ensure everything has been communicated before patients leave the unit.

“During the leaflet’s development its name was changed from ‘discharge’ to ‘going home’. Community services often facilitate and support discharge from OPAU by providing on-going treatment and care, such as Virtual Wards and the Acute Clinical Team, and therefore ‘going home’ felt better suited.

“By improving the information given to patients and families, and giving helpful contact numbers, we hope that patients will have a better recovery and reduce reattendance to hospital.

“Feedback has been very positive; patients have commented on the value of having information that is clear to understand and read. Some have benefitted from reaching out for advice or support by using the phone numbers provided, and some commenting on the improved understanding of their medication.”

Rebecca Parcell, Service Manager for Care of the Elderly and Frailty Services, said: "As a service manager, I particularly enjoyed having the opportunity to speak directly with patients and their families to understand what information really mattered to them.

“Their insights were invaluable and helped shape what we developed. It was important to us that the leaflet was genuinely patient centred and hearing their views first hand made sure we achieved that."

Samantha Evans, OPAU Ward manager, has seen the positive effects the leaflet has had on patients preparing to leave the unit.

She said: "The development of the going home leaflet has helped OPAU patients feel more prepared and less anxious following discharge.

“It reinforces key information, improves understanding of follow up plans and medications, and supports a smoother, safer transition home for both patients and families.

"The information included was at times forgotten or not understood by patients following discharge, but now staff can feel confident that patients and their families have the time to understand their hospital journey when at home."

Richard Young, Care of the Elderly Clinical Nurse Specialist, added: "The Going Home Leaflet has been well received by patients but also families as it gives them greater knowledge and understanding of their time spent in OPAU and what will happen when discharged.

"This leaflet allowed that to be done in their own time and also have something physical to relate to."