Before you leave the hospital

Discharge is rushed, usually crowded, and the person being discharged is tired. Most readmissions in the following fortnight trace back to something that was explained once, quickly, at exactly that moment.

Ask these before you leave the ward, and write the answers down.

The six questions

• Which of the old medicines do we stop, and which continue?
• What is each new medicine for, and for how many days?
• What should the wound or the recovery look like on day three, and on day seven?
• What would mean we should come back immediately?
• When is the follow-up, and who do we call before then?
• What can they do — stairs, bathing, lifting, driving — and what must wait?

Take the paperwork seriously

Photograph the discharge summary and prescription before you leave the building. Paper gets lost between the hospital and home more often than anyone expects, and the summary is what any other doctor will want to see.