New discharge lounge at KGH to help get patients ready to leave hospital

The discharge lounge team: Denise Gregory, Yvonne Head, Karen Difante, Laura Forgan and Charlotte Platton

The trust says the move will enable them to provide a better and more convenient environment for patients, relatives and staff.

Head of capacity Clare Beattie said: “This area will be the key destination for all KGH patients being discharged.

“We are very pleased to have such a large area for discharge because it enables us to move patients to it as early as possible on their day of discharge.

The discharge lounge team outside their new unit at KGH

“This helps us to free up beds our wards earlier and improve flow through and out of the hospital.”

The trust’s existing discharge lounge has been relocated from Fotheringhay Ward on the top floor of the main ward block to a new ground floor location at the rear of the site in a former treatment area close to the Rothwell Road railway bridge entrance.

The new lounge has 12 chairs and four beds with privacy screening.

The previous location on Fotheringhay Ward had eight chairs.

The new area also has a reception area, central ward station for good patient observation, a side room, improved toilets, three free dedicated parking spaces and its own ambulance bay.

The move itself happened on March 29 following appropriate refurbishment work of a former renal unit.

It is expected that the discharge lounge will be used by all patients being discharged from the hospital (except children), which will be about 30 people per day.

Sister Laura Forgan and Sister Yvonne Head lead the team of nurses and healthcare assistants that staff the lounge.

Laura said: “This is a big improvement for us.

“We have more space, better facilities and it will be easier for families – and non-emergency ambulance crews – to access the lounge.

“The discharge lounge performs a very important role.

“Our nurses and healthcare assistants help to get patients ready to go home.

“We can give them a meal, ensure they have their medication, their discharge letter and that they have someone to pick them up.

“While people wait for these arrangements to be finalised we have a television and facilities for people to use their mobile phones or tablets.

“The overall impact of the new lounge will be to improve the quality of our patient’s experience of the discharge process.”