Help / When you need a person, not a list
Coming home from hospital
This is the point at which families discover how much they are expected to work out alone, usually with about a day of notice.
AskFam will not answer this one with a list of names. What somebody needs after a hospital stay changes week to week and takes an assessment rather than a guess. What follows is the order that actually works.
Ask the ward before they leave
Every hospital has a discharge planner, and asking for them is the single highest-value thing you can do. They can arrange equipment, home supports and follow-up — and it is markedly easier before discharge than after.
Ask on the ward. It is a normal request and nobody will think it unusual.
Book the GP for the week they get home
Medicines change in hospital, often substantially, and the list somebody comes home with may not match the one they went in with. A GP review sorts that out, and is also the route to a referral for community nursing.
Book it before they are discharged if you can.
Start the assessment even if you think you will not need it
My Aged Care on 1800 200 422. The assessment is free and it is what unlocks subsidised help at home — but it takes weeks, so starting it late is the common regret.
Start it now, and arrange something privately in the meantime if you need to.
And the ordinary things, which do help
Meals, cleaning and transport for the first fortnight take real weight off, and none of them need an assessment. Those are the parts AskFam can help you find today.
The pets, too. If there is another stay coming, sort the animal early — it is the objection nobody says out loud.