We have social care teams working in all NHS hospitals. When you go into hospital, ask to speak to them about the help you need when you go home.
They'll have a chat with you about your day-to-day life and work out what we can do to help. The sort of things we might suggest include:
- equipment to make life at home easier
- meals on wheels or help to prepare food
- home visits to help you get back on your feet when you leave hospital. This is sometimes called "enablement"
- help to get you settled when you return home. That might include putting the heating on or getting a bit of shopping in
- advice to help build up your confidence and independence.
You might have to pay towards some of these things. We work it out for each person. Don't worry – we’ll let you know first if you need to pay anything.
As you start to recover and do more things for yourself, we’ll slowly reduce the support we give you.
If you need long-term support, we’ll arrange for you to have an assessment when you're back settled at home to work out what help you may need.
Find out more information on the hospital discharge factsheets.