§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make it his policy to require hospital trusts to involve carers and patients in the production and signing-off of discharge plans; [39054]
579W(2) if he will make it his policy to require hospital trusts to provide patients and their carers with a copy of their discharge plan. [39051]
§ Mr. Milburn[holding answer 20 April 1998]: General good practice guidance on hospital discharge procedures—"Hospital Discharge Workbook—a manual on hospital discharge procedures"—makes it clear that the patient, their family and carer, should be consulted and informed at all stages of their discharge, they should have their own copy of an agreed discharge plan, the discharge plan should contain no big surprises, and the discharge should happen according to the plan.
Health Service Guidance (95)8, "NHS Responsibilities for Meeting Continuing Health Care Needs" included, in its discharge section, a reminder about the workbook. The HSG added that patients and their families and carers should be kept fully informed about how procedures for hospital discharge and the multi-disciplinary assessment of patients continuing health care needs will work, and should receive relevant information (in writing and in other formats appropriate to their needs) they require to make decisions about continuing care.