Welcome to the ‘Home from Hospital’ homepage.
In this section you can find out about the work of Care & Repair England to encourage and promote closer working between local Care & Repair and similar services, and health organisations, particularly hospitals.
See further down the page for details of our ‘If only I had known…’ scheme
Why link Care & Repair services and Hospitals?
Illness or a health crisis resulting in hospital admission can be a critical point for older people making decisions about their housing and care.
No longer being able to climb stairs, use a bath or a standard height WC are common housing related difficulties that impact on older peoples’ ability to leave hospital. Sometimes people need help to organise adaptations, care packages or even to move home – some HIAs have developed services to help to solve such problems.
For more than a decade local Care & Repair and other home improvement agencies (HIAs) have been involved in running Home from Hospital services.
These schemes are often linked to the handyperson service which can undertake the minor adaptations, small repairs, delivery of equipment or odd jobs, such as moving a bed downstairs, or installing a keysafe, that can be critical to enabling an older person to return to their own home after time in hospital.
Some HIAs offer Housing Options Advice Services (more details in that section of the website) which can help people to move to a different home if returning to their current property is no longer possible due to their health problem.
Click here for link to information published by Foundations about HIA and health projects.
Click here for report by Care & Repair England about Hospital Discharge Services and the potential role of HIAs (2001) called ‘On the Mend’
Care & Repair England’s ‘If only I had known….’ Initiative
The aim of the ‘If only I had known…’ initiative is to enable older people, their families and carers to make an informed decision about future housing, care and support, either following hospital admission or where a person has a long term health condition.
Home from Hospital Information Packs
The hospital part of the project involves providing housing and care service information to patients via a Home from Hospital pack, usually located in hospital bedside cabinets. This is combined with local Care & Repair (or similar voluntary sector service) staff undertaking a regular ‘ward round’ to top up packs, talk to ward staff and take direct referrals from patients and professionals of people who would like to discuss their housing and care options and/ or who need practical housing related help in order to be discharged from hospital.
Click here for an introduction to the ‘If only I had known…’ initiative
Click here to find out more about initiatives in
Contact details Care & Repair England
[See local project profiles for contacts in specific areas]
Planning ahead for housing in later life
The initiative also aims to enable people with long term health problems to think through the housing implications of their health condition and to make plans accordingly, particularly with regard to their future housing needs eg. to adapt and existing home or move to somewhere more suitable whilst they are able. This could potentially be delivered through better links to initiatives such as expert patient or re-ablement programmes.
Click here for
If you are an older person who needs specialist help and advice about moving home we recommend that you contact FirstStop Advice.
This is an independent, free service providing advice and information for older people about care and housing options in later life.
Tel: 0800 377 7070 www.firststopcareadvice.org.uk
Our beside cabinet ‘Going Home from Hospital’ information packs about housing and care options are now being used by hospitals in Warwickshire, Somerset, Coventry and Weston-super- Mare and more joined up ways to help older patients are being pioneered.
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