Staff perceptions of discharge planning: A challenge for quality improvement

Abstract

One hundred staff in three acute care public hospitals were asked about their perceptions ofsuccesses and failures of their discharge planning activities. The intention was to highlightways in which the quality of discharge planning could be improved within the acute hospitalsetting. Generally staff described failures more commonly than successes, with a number ofkey failures being identified, including problems associated with vacating beds, lack ofappropriate staff, patients and carer education about discharge activities, general processissues, problems associated with community service provision and patients who are difficultto discharge. Staff identified the lack of feedback on the outcome of their efforts as a sourceof frustration and a barrier to improving discharge planning activities. The challenges forimproving the quality of discharge planning in the acute hospital setting would appear tobe in establishing appropriate structures and processes that promote interaction between staff,patients and community providers, and provide incentives for behavioural change.