Welcome Home from Hospital

Box: 195

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Hills Road,

Cambridge,

CB2 0QQ

 

Tel: 01223 714 433

whfh.south@care-network.org.uk

 

 

Welcome Home from Hospital provides short-term practical support to ease the transition from hospital to home.

 

Who does it serve?

Any patient can receive help from Welcome Home from Hospital, regardless of whether they are eligible for care from any of the statutory services. This service does not replace any statutory services or the help that family, friends and neighbours can offer. The service is free and confidential, and is provided by trained volunteers, who all wear identification badges.

 

Referrals

Anyone can refer a patient to Welcome Home from Hospital. Do contact the scheme if you would like to discuss this service for yourself or a friend or relative. The Co-ordinator can meet with you on the ward to discuss the services offered. When a referral is made by ward staff, the Co-ordinator will always liaise with Social Services to establish the details of the planned aftercare for the patient.

 

Within 24 hours of the referral being made, the Co-ordinator will visit the patient on the ward to assess their needs and their willingness to accept help from the scheme. Where possible, family and friends will also be consulted. Written consent from the patient (or their carer) will be obtained before any details about the patient are passed on to a volunteer.

 

Contacting a volunteer

Once a referral has been accepted by the scheme, and the patient's agreement has been obtained, a local volunteer will be contacted by the Co-ordinator to establish their availability. If the volunteer accepts the case, they will be sent the patient's name, address, telephone number and other relevant details.

 

 

In the client's (former-patient's) home

We usually arrange for the volunteer to visit the patient at home on the day after discharge from hospital (but we can start earlier if required). All volunteers carry identification, which they will show to the client when they arrive at their home.

 

If the client would like it, the volunteer can help them in the following ways:

• check that they are OK
  
  

• warm the house
  
  

• make a hot drink or light meal
  
  

• do some shopping
  
  

• collect a prescription or pension
  
  

• do some light housework
  
  

• help them sort out paperwork and make phone calls
  
  

• help them contact other services
  
  

• check that any pre-arranged statutory or voluntary services start on time
  
  

• inform the Co-ordinator if any problems arise with services the client is expecting
  
  

• just sit for a while and have a chat.

The help can be given as soon as the client arrives home and can continue for up to two weeks.

 

Organisation of the scheme

Welcome Home from Hospital was launched in 1996 and is a hospital discharge scheme that has been established by Care Network (a registered charity) with joint funding from health and Social Services.

 

 

Staffing of Welcome Home from Hospital

• a Co-ordinator and an assistant, who are both based at Addenbrooke's Hospital
  
  

• a team of community-based volunteers.

 

 

Care Network is a registered charity (No. 1041524)

 

 

 

 

Back to top