What you should leave with at discharge
The documents that let a clinician at home continue from a known point rather than starting again.
Discharge is the handover, and the handover is a document. What it contains decides how much of the programme survives the flight home.
What you should leave with
A discharge summary naming the diagnosis, what was done, and the admission and discharge measurements by instrument name. The home programme, written down and demonstrated rather than described. Any orthosis or equipment fitted, with instructions. And the schedule of follow-up reviews.
Ask which language the summary is written in before you travel, not on the day you leave.
Planning starts at admission
A discharge plan assembled in the last two days is a form. One built from admission accounts for what the patient will go home to: the stairs, the bathroom, who is there during the day.
Bring photographs or measurements of the home environment if it is difficult. Advice given without knowing the doorway width is guesswork.
Understanding, tested rather than assumed
The companion should be able to perform the home programme unaided, under supervision, before leaving. Watching it is not the same as doing it, and the difference shows up once you are home.
If that has not happened, ask for it. It is a normal request and takes one session.
Topic
More in Returning home and follow-up
- The early weeks at home are the fragile onesGains are held or lost in the weeks after discharge, and the risks are practical rather than clinical.
- Remote follow-up: what it can and cannot replaceScheduled video reviews that adjust the home programme — useful for progression and technique, not a substitute for hands-on therapy.
