Moving from hospital to a care home
If you’ve been in hospital, medical staff will do an assessment of your care needs before you leave.
Leaving hospital is called being ‘discharged’.
What the assessment is for
One of the main things the assessment will find out is ‘can the patient’s needs be met any other place than hospital?’
The document ‘Hospital discharge planning’ shows what staff look at in the assessment.
Who carries out the assessment
The assessment is carried out by:
- a doctor
- a nurse
- another medical staff such as an occupational therapist
Making the decision
After the assessment medical staff may decide:
- you can go home and you do not need extra support
- you can go home with extra support
- your needs are best met in a care home
Read more about the care and support you can get at home.
Your right to be involved
Medical staff will involve you and your family or carers when making the decision.
You have the right to have a say in your care unless you do not have the capacity to do so.
This is called Self-directed Support. It allows you to have a say in what care you get and how it works.
Find out more about Self-directed Support.
Adults with incapacity
Adults 16 or over are assumed to have capacity unless it’s clearly shown they do not.
An adult with incapacity is someone 16 or over who cannot make some or all decisions for themselves.
If an adult lacks capacity someone else may need to make decisions for them. For example a family member. There are 2 ways they can do this:
- Power of Attorney (POA) – where someone plans for the future and gives someone authority to deal with their affairs
- Guardianship – where someone does not have POA in place and decisions need to be made
If someone has either of these for a patient they’ll need to give medical staff proof of this.
Who decides if an adult has 'capacity'
Medical staff in charge of a patient’s care decides if they have ‘capacity’. They need to do a full assessment. They also need to document and give evidence why the patient does not have capacity.
If you disagree with the hospital's decision
You should speak to the doctor in charge of the patient’s care. If they cannot resolve the issue with you they’ll let you know about the next steps.
The law
To read more about the law around incapacity you can read ‘Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000’ on gov.scot.
You can also check where you can get legal help with care.
Going into a care home
Hospital staff looking after your care will recommend the type of care home that best suits your needs.
They will give you a list of suitable homes that can meet your needs. You can choose up to three homes from the list and rank them in order of preference.
Hospital staff can also plan visits to the care home.
You have the right to choose your own care home.
If your first choice does not have space
Not all care homes will have space.
If your care home does not have space, you’ll move to your next choice.
If none of your choices have space
If none of your choices have space, you’ll move to a temporary care home until space in one of your choices becomes available.
You’ll be added to the waiting lists of all of your choices. Social Work staff will let you know when a place becomes available.
When a place becomes available you’ll have the choice to either:
- move to the new care home
- stay in the care home you’re in
You cannot stay in hospital while you wait for a place.
Care home costs
Your local council may be able to pay towards the cost of the care home. To do this, they’ll carry out a financial assessment.
There will be a limit to how much they will pay. You may need to pay something towards the cost.
The council will tell if you need to pay anything and how much, after the financial assessment.
Find out more about paying care home fees.