Here’s 72-year-old Marguerite Eccles, pictured with Ward Manager, Kath Stubbington in the new Discharge Lounge at HRI, sipping a cuppa and waiting for her lift home.

Kath said: “Since the new lounge opened in the Integrated Flow Hub at HRI, it’s been great to see that ward colleagues are getting in touch early in the day so that patients who are fit and well to return to their place of residence can move to the lounge ahead of their discharge.

“We’re here for all our patients who fit the criteria, so please get in touch on our referral number 07379 061905, and maybe you can free up even more beds for those who might need to be admitted from our A&E department.

“We offer a bright, engaging space, and we know that patients love interacting with our nurses. We have several reclining seats and encourage patients to move chairs regularly to give them a change of position and keep them moving – if we can prise them out of their recliner that is!

“They get their nutrition and hydration needs met. We’ll also wash them and sort their medicines. They also have plenty of games, jigsaws and books to read if they just want to sit alone. We also have a quiet room for dementia patients who do not need 1-2-1 care.

Marguerite had been on SAU prior to her discharge, having come through the A&E.

She said: “I’ve been a professional carer all my life and I have to say that my own care here at Huddersfield all week has been brilliant. I can’t thank the staff on SAU enough. All the nurses introduced themselves and told me how they’d be involved in my care.

“I have to say that the care from the A&E to SAU and now the discharge lounge has been consistent throughout and more importantly felt really calming.

“Somebody somewhere has been paying attention and I feel like there has been a real emphasis on person-centred care.”

The Discharge Lounge Team are there Monday to Friday between 07:00 and 19:30. Call 07379 061905.

Discharge Lounge criteria – patients who cannot use the facility:

• Patients who are bedbound as there are no longer beds in the lounge
• Patients who need a ‘red clean’ (CDiff, Norovirus, active loose stools, Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), etc) – this is to support Infection Prevention
• Patients with an MCA/DOLs in place or dementia patients who need 1-2-1 care
• Patients who are receiving end-of-life care, unless they are fast-track without physical needs
• Those with a new or altered airway