Inappropriate hospital discharges leading to high readmission levels

According to an enquiry by Healthwatch England, high levels of hospital readmissions are being blamed on the poor way patient discharges are handled.

The watchdog researched patient surveys, 3,000 patient reports, and information obtained from Freedom of Information requests, and found that any hospitals were failing to contact relatives or investigate whether the patient’s home environment was suitable before they were being discharged. A third of hospitals were also failing to advise the patient’s GP or carer of newly prescribed medicines.

Healthwatch England chair, Anna Bradley, said “There is a huge human and financial cost of getting discharge wrong.”

Last year, the National Audit Office reported on a million hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge, costing the NHS around £2.4bn each year.

An NHS England spokesman said “We need to ensure appropriate care is put in place before a patient leaves hospital which needs strong joint working across the health service.

Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist team of clinical negligence lawyers have years of experience in News compensation claims, and have obtained substantial compensation for our clients. Not only do we represent clients in Yorkshire, but because of our reputation we also represent clients nationally.

If you believe that you or a relative may have been injured as a result of clinical/News, please call for free legal advice from our News solicitors on the freephone number below.

Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), News lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

Freephone : 0800 028 296