Hospital services
How can the hospital service help me?
The purpose of Devon Carers Hospital Service is to offer you, the carer, additional support in coping with an unexpected admission into hospital. This service looks to address concerns arising from the possible increase in caring responsibilities for you following the discharge to home of the person that you look after. We also aim to provide support for you if you find yourself having an unexpected stay in hospital, which has then limited your ability to provide care in a safe manner, or where returning to your previous levels of caring could even hinder your recuperation.
What type of support could I be offered?
A Hospital Liaison Worker will offer you 1:1 guidance and advice following the discharge from hospital. They will discuss with you your current situation, what your supporting role entails and what you are finding to be a stress or strain. The Hospital Liaison Worker will be able to look for solutions to help you – they will continue to work with you for up to 6 weeks, re-assessing the situation and the support in place as needed.
Practical support can be put in place for a limited time to ease stress or strain, this could include:
- Delivery of meals
- Cleaning and home-help, shopping, or support with setting up online shopping
- Transport to and from appointments
- Sitting service
- Purchase of non-medical equipment such as white goods, electronics, aids
This is not an exhaustive list, as the team try to be as creative as possible when looking for solutions to ease the situation.
How can I request help from the service?
If you or the person you care for know you have a planned stay in hospital, or have had a very recent stay in hospital, please get in touch with us:
Email: info@devoncarers.org.uk
Webchat on www.devoncarers.org.uk
Helpline: 03456 434 435