Hospital discharge - May 2011

From January - April 2011, Bromley LINk carried out a major piece of work looking at patients' experiences of leaving hospital in Bromley. We received over 120 responses to our survey, and carried out 30 patient interviews to gain an in-depth understanding of what is working well, and what is not so good in the hospital discharge process.

We have now produced a report with 11 recommendations for improvement in. South London Healthcare Trust (who run the hospitals in Bromley) have welcomed the report and we will be working with them to implement the recommendations and make sure that leaving hospital goes as smoothly as possible for patients in Bromley.

More information about our hospital discharge work can be found here.



Hospital appointment letters

Some LINk members told us that they were not allowed to take a friend or family member into some appointments at hospital.

Lots of patients find it really useful to have someone with them to offer support during appointments, and so Bromley LINk raised this issue with the hospital.

As a result of the LINk’s action, hospital appointment letters have now been changed to make it clear that patients can have someone with them and this has benefitted many vulnerable patients in the borough.

Transport

After a suggestion from Bromley LINk, Bromley borough transport drivers now carry mobile phones so that carers or service users can be phoned if transport is running late.

Sexual Health services

Several LINk members noticed that patients were having to queue outside the sexual health clinic at Beckenham Beacon when the clinic was busy.

Bromley LINk raised this with the local NHS and the queuing system has now been changed so that patients can wait to access the service inside the building – putting an end to the embarrassment for patients who had previously had to wait outside.