Coping at Home

On your return home, you may need some assistance from friends, relatives, or carers to settle in. If you are unable to ask for help directly, hospital staff may speak with your family or carers on your behalf. Social services may also contact a neighbour or support network to help prepare your home for your return.

If there is no-one available to help, the hospital or local social services may be able to arrange support from a volunteer organisation such as the Red Cross or Royal Voluntary Service, depending on local availability. Volunteers may help with tasks such as basic home preparation, but this cannot always be guaranteed.

You may find that you need aids to help you move around your home, such as a raised toilet seat, grab handles, wheelchair, walking frame, or sticks. Some home adaptations may also be recommended. Your Continuing Healthcare or multidisciplinary team can help assess your needs and arrange equipment or support through the NHS or local authority.

There may also be items you wish to purchase personally to make life easier or more comfortable.

You can find more information about mobility aid in our separate ‘Mobility Guide’.

The District Nurse

Where necessary, the hospital discharge team, GP, or charge nurse may arrange for a district nurse to visit you at home. District nurses provide ongoing nursing care, which may include changing dressings, administering injections, monitoring your health, managing chronic conditions, supporting end-of-life care, and educating you or your carers. They work closely with other healthcare professionals to ensure you receive the care you need at home.

Community Alarms and Telecare Services

If you are worried about having an accident or falling ill while you are in your own home alone, community alarms provide emergency access that is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The community alarm is connected to your telephone line and can be activated via a pendant worn around the neck or a wrist band. They provide reassurance to your family and friends that help, if needed, is only a touch of a button away.

Telecare systems are a range of simple sensors that either raise an alarm or act as a reminder to help to keep you safe and independent in your own home, they include items such as: door sensors, movement sensors, medication reminders and smoke, gas or flood detectors.

The housing department of your local council, Age UK and private companies provide this valuable service.

Home Care

Your Continuing Healthcare (CHC) team, the hospital discharge team or local social service can arrange where necessary to have a Home Carer visit you on a regular basis to help with personal things like washing or dressing, as well as preparing meals, shopping and cleaning. Alternatively, this can be arranged privately yourself or by family or friends. Home Care can be arranged from as little as 15 minutes a week all the way up to 24 hours a day.

There are numerous Home Care providers out there and so it’s important to find one that suits you. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates Home Care providers and publishes a rating for each one on their website. This can be a good place to check which provider has the same values as you do when selecting a provider.

Meals on Wheels

Many Meals on Wheels services have now been disbanded or contracted out to private companies due to funding cuts. There may be a number of companies locally that offer either a hot meal delivery service or frozen meals. Details will be available by searching online or through your local authority.

Most Home Care providers will carry out an assessment of your needs and be able to discuss with you and offer suggestions for the type of care package you require to support you at home.

Care & Repair Agencies

Care and Repair Agencies work to help you to remain in your own home and to live as independently as possible. They do this by providing information about choices that can improve your safety, security, comfort and convenience. Care and Repair agencies can help you tap into funding and expertise to adapt, repair or improve your home. This might mean jobs as small as adding handrails or larger projects, such as creating a specially adapted bathroom. You can search for Care and Repair agencies online or your local authority should also be able to give you more information about what is available in your region.

Trusted Traders

Many local authorities in the UK now run a Trusted Traders scheme. This means that they stringently vet traders such as builders, gardeners, electricians and plumbers, to ensure that they offer their customers the highest standards of service. For a company to become a ‘Trusted Trader’ takes a lot but helps to give customers the peace of mind that they can expect a good job for a fair price, without fearing rogue traders or doorstep crime. Your local authority will be able to give you details of Trusted Traders in your area.

Extra Care Housing & Sheltered Housing

Extra Care Housing (ECH) and Sheltered Housing are both options available to older people in the UK, though they are not exactly the same. Both allow you to live independently in your own selfcontained home with the benefit of domiciliary care support services providing planned care on-site, plus 24-hour emergency response.

Properties are usually available to rent, buy outright or via a shared ownership scheme in flats, bungalow estates and retirement villages. Properties in most ECH or Sheltered Housing scheme include features such as raised electric sockets, lowered worktops, walk-in showers, etc. and will usually have been designed to accommodate wheelchair users.

Generally, the scheme manager or coordinator will live on-site or nearby to help arrange services that residents might need. These schemes often provide shared or communal facilities, such as a lounger, garden, laundry or guest flat for family members to visit and stay.

Other Assistance

There are various schemes and organisations that provide help after a stay in hospital. Contact details can be obtained from your local social services department, community health centre or hospital social worker.

Important note: Should you be concerned about how you will cope at home because of difficult stairs, inadequate heating, or the fact that your home is not designed to accommodate a wheelchair or walking frame, you should speak to your hospital discharge team or nurse without delay. They will ensure that your concerns are communicated to the relevant professionals, such as occupational therapists or social services, so that support can be arranged to help you manage safely at home.

Pharmacy Service

Many local pharmacies in the UK now offer services designed to make your life easier. In addition to collecting your repeat prescription for your GP on your behalf, they may also be able to deliver your medication to your home. They can give treatment advice about a range of common ailments such as aches, pains, sore throats, teething and much more. Ask your local pharmacy for more information about the services they offer.

Outpatiens Appointment or GP Follow Up

Once you have been discharged from hospital, your hospital consultant or doctor may need to see you to gauge your recovery progress.

If this is the case, you will be given an Outpatients’ Clinic appointment card. Should you require transport for these visits, an ambulance can be arranged on your behalf. Alternatively, you may need to visit your GP for follow-up treatment.

Private Ambulane Companies

Throughout the UK, there are private ambulance services that can transfer patients to and from non-emergency medical appointments, clinics, nursing homes and other medical facilities. The vehicles are fully insured with trained and experienced drivers, and can provide wheelchair or stretcher access.

When choosing a provider in England, it is best to look for a company that is registered with and inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which regulates healthcare and social care services.

The Motability Scheme

Motability is a national charity that enables disabled people to obtain a car, powered wheelchair or scooter simply by using their governmentfunded mobility allowances. The great thing about the scheme is that it gives you access to worry-free motoring without the financial and practical hassles of owning a car.

For over 47 years, Motability has helped over 5.5 million people get mobile by exchanging their government-funded mobility allowance for a brand-new car, scooter or powered wheelchair. To be eligible for the Motability Scheme, you must be receiving the Higher Rate Mobility Part of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or the Higher Rate of Mobility Part of Personal Independent Payment. Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP) or War Pensioners’ Mobiity Supplement (WPMS) with at least 12 months’ award left when you apply. This is subject to change, please check www.gov.uk.

Motability produces a number of helpful factsheets which can be downloaded from the website www.motability.co.uk. An easy read guide to getting a Motability Scheme Car provides a good overview of the scheme.

We also cover the Mobility Scheme in more details in our Mobility Advice Guide.