Support when you are coming out of hospital

If you have spent some time in hospital, you may need support when you leave, to help you with your day-to-day life.

This page gives some information about how to get support, and the options you have for managing this support.

This information is for people who did not already have support in place before going in to hospital.

If you already had support in place before going into hospital, find out more about how it works when you leave hospital in this article: Going into and coming out of hospital

Getting ready to leave hospital

The process of leaving hospital is sometimes known as discharge.

If you did not have social care support before you went into hospital, but you are likely to need it when you leave, this should be arranged while you are in hospital.

To work out what you might need support with, you will have an assessment. This may involve several people including doctors, other medical professionals, a social worker or occupational therapist.

The assessment is about finding out what is important to you and what you may need support with once you leave hospital.

The hospital should also create a Discharge Plan with you.

You can ask for a copy of your Discharge Plan.

Family members’ and unpaid carers’ role in getting ready to leave hospital

You may have people helping you, for example family members, while you are in hospital or when you leave.

Your assessment should also find out what support anyone who is caring for you needs, once you leave hospital.

Family members and unpaid carers also have a right to be involved in planning your discharge from hospital.

If you need short term care for a few days or weeks

If you need some help for a short time after leaving hospital, your local council may arrange some care and support. This is sometimes called reablement care.

In some areas, these services are free. In other areas, you may have to pay towards the costs.

You can ask your local council if you will have to pay and how much it will cost.

There may also be voluntary organisations who provide help for people moving home from hospital in your area.

If you need longer term care and support when you leave hospital

A social worker or another professional will find out about the support you need to stay safe and well at home.

They will ask about any support you already have, such as help from family and friends. You should let them know if any support from family and friends is short term and will stop.

After this, the social worker or other professional with agree a support plan with you.

You can choose how much direct control and responsibility you and your family members want to take in arranging your support.

This is designed to give you the most flexibility so you can be supported in a way that suits you.

Your support plan should also take into account your wishes about the types of care and support you receive.

When you agree your support plan, you should be offered four Options that will let you choose how much control and responsibility you want to have.

These four Options are called Self-directed Support and is the way that all social care support is organised in Scotland.

You can find out more about these Options and what they involve in this section: Your options for controlling your support

Moving from hospital into a care home

If the hospital wants to discharge you to a care home, you have the right to say yes or no to this. You should not feel under pressure to move to a care home, unless you feel it is an acceptable option for you.

If you want to return to your own home, your council should consider how to make this possible.

This leaflet from the Scottish Government explains more about your rights when it comes to choosing a care home.

Next steps

Take a look at the Resources section below for additional reading about support when coming out of hospital.