When you leave hospital

Our hospital social work team help you live as independently as possible after leaving hospital. We work with your carers to:

• plan for you to leave hospital safely
• arrange the care you need at home

We have teams based at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital and Poole Hospital. If you’re staying at a community hospital, we can visit you.

If you’re due to leave hospital and will need care after you leave, nursing staff will contact us for you. They will do this without your permission.

How we work

We’ll talk about what you can do for yourself and what you need help with to live independently. This is called an assessment of needs. If you want your carer to be with you when we talk to you, that's fine.

We can help you with:

• occupational therapy
• care at home
• meals at home
• going to a day centre to regain skills
• rehabilitation to help you regain skills
• finding out about extra care housing or care homes if you cannot live at home

Costs

We will not charge you for an assessment of needs or any advice we give you.

We may charge you for support after you leave hospital. We’ll check how much you need to pay and what benefits you’re entitled to.

Contact us

If you have any questions, call us on 0300 019 4744 for Royal Bournemouth Hospital or 01202 128 999 for Poole Hospital.

Support for leaving hospital service

If you do not need social care, the support for leaving hospital service may be able to help you. They can give you information about food shopping, gardening, housing and financial issues.

This service is run by Bournemouth Churches Housing Association.