Improving the Involvement of Unpaid Carers in Hospital Discharge Planning change package
Background
Section 28 of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 states that unpaid carers have the right to be involved in planning for discharge when the person they care for is admitted to hospital. It is the duty of all Health Boards to involve the carer in this planning.
Current evidence indicates that carers are not being consistently identified, involved, and supported across the system. When carer involvement is improved, evidence shows that this not only improves carer experience but also reduces delayed discharges and helps optimise staff time and efficiency.
This change package will be essential reading for teams working to improve carer experience and discharge processes across a wide range of hospital settings. The package will support teams to identify opportunities for improvement and includes a range of tools to support planning and evaluation of the impact of change on carers, staff, and the hospital system.
How it was developed
This change package was developed by Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s Unpaid Carers Improvement Programme, with input from subject matter experts across health, social care and the third sector, and unpaid carers with lived experience of the hospital discharge process.
What the change package includes
- driver diagram,
- change ideas,
- measurement plan, and
- supporting evidence, guidelines, resources and tools.
You can access the change package here.