NHS commissioners in Lambeth and Southwark joined with Healthwatch colleagues for a joint event to discuss how to improve the quality of support for people when they leave hospital.
The event, Going Home, was attended by staff from both Lambeth and Southwark Healthwatch, local hospitals, voluntary organisations and NHS Lambeth and Southwark Clinical Commissioning Groups.
A video telling the story of one patient's experience when they left St Thomas' Hospital was launched at the event and delegates discussed how they could make improvements to the NHS and care system to ensure people received the support they need from relevant health and care organisations at this difficult time.
Professor Clifford Hughes, former Chief Executive Officer of the Clinical Excellence Commission, a statutory health corporation promoting and supporting improvement inquality and safety in health across New South Wales, Australia, spoke at the event. Professor Hughes told the room that the patient and carer need a louder voice when people leave hospital. A workshop developed a number of suggestions which will be detailed in a report to be considered later this year.
Organisers were challenged to hold another event next year to showcase the changes which have been made as a result.
Dr Adrian Mclachlan, Chair of NHS Lambeth CCG, said: "It was great to get so many people in the room who were determined to make a difference to the going home process for local people. We heard about a lot of good work that is already going on in Lambeth and Southwark but there was broad agreement that there is definitely room for improvement, including better communication to help people access the support that is out there."
More than 140 people attended the event at The Oval. You can view the Going Home film here: