Going home in style
Our discharge lounge has re-opened in a new location – and given a new lease of life!
The lounge – located on the ground floor, zone 8, in Plaistow Ward – has been revamped so that it’s brighter, more welcoming and overall, a better experience for our patients.
Once a patient who was staying in a ward has finished treatment and given the green light to go home (also known as being ‘medically optimised’), they will be sent to the discharge lounge. Here, they can wait for anything from having a prescription filled to getting a life home from our patient transport team.
By having the patients wait in this area, rather than on a ward, it frees up a bed in the hospital so that someone else who needs to be admitted can be treated.
“Discharging patients who have finished their treatment and are able to go home is really important to helping us manage the flow of patients through the hospital”, say Stewart Ryan an operations manager. “But we want to make sure the process is a positive one for our patients.
“An important part of this process involves having a discharge lounge, because it gives patients a place to wait for their medications and have conversations about what support is available to them outside of hospital as they continue their recovery at home, among other things.”
Milliam Munyaka lead discharge lounge nurse continues: “We know that having a discharge lounge gives patients a dedicated space to wait before they go home. But what’s as important is that the lounge provides a nice, calm environment – it’s a key part of a patient’s hospital journey. That’s why it’s so fantastic to see our discharge lounge be improved, made brighter and more comfortable for patients, the patients we’re all here to care for.”