Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust patient experience strategy 'Developing the Experience of Care' was launched in July -17.
The work of the strategy centres around 8 co-produced pledges, one of which focuses on discharge and facilitating better links into Community Support.
A project to combat loneliness was led by a Trust patient representative who was passionate about this subject and was able to work collaboratively with local third sector organisations.
The result of this work produced an information booklet which supports relieving loneliness by including information on a number of local organisations that patients, families and carers can contact for support. It was felt that patients are offered a large amount of information at discharge, which at times is often overwhelming. Therefore it was thought that an A6 pocket sized booklet which included information from multiple organisations would be more 'user friendly'.
The booklet has been funded to date by charitable donations from local community organisations and has been made available across the local community in areas such as GP surgeries and advocacy centres.
The Trust is supporting this by aiming to offer this information to all patients on discharge. A copy of the booklet is provided with a patients take home medications and is also freely available in multiple areas of the Trust.
Local organisations are currently monitoring the number of referrals taken as a result of the booklet and there has been expressions of interest made to implement in other local regional areas.