Tag: Home for Lunch initiative

Health Board asks for help to get patients ‘Home for Lunch’

With winter pressures upon NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde services, patients are being encouraged to get ‘Home for Lunch’.

This involves, alongside their families, carers, and loved ones, making the necessary arrangements to help them return to the comfort of home the morning of their scheduled discharge.

The ‘Home for Lunch’ initiative asks patients, families, and loved ones to use the following checklist:

  • Arranging transport in advance, if required.
  • Ensuring appropriate clothing is available for travel.
  • Making sure their loved one has access to their home.
  • Preparing essentials at home, such as food and heating.
  • Establishing a Power of Attorney for healthcare matters.

Getting a patient back to their home environment, which could also include a care home in some cases, gets them back to their personal comforts and avoids the well-known risks associated with prolonged hospital stays.

Professor Angela Wallace, Executive Director of Nursing at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, explained: “We understand that no one wants to be in hospital any longer than required. That’s why we’re encouraging patients, families, and carers to help us ensure their loved ones get ‘Home for Lunch’. Achieving this means patients are back to their home comforts.

“Winter puts additional pressure on the NHS. It may seem small, but ‘Home for Lunch’ allows us to make sure we can admit patients who urgently need our care. This includes patients being seen quickly in our emergency departments and it helps us to ensure people can receive planned care without delay.”



Annette Cunningham, Senior Charge Nurse at the Discharge Lounge in the Royal Alexandra Hospital, said: “We’re here to help get patients home at the final stage of their stay at the hospital. We’re asking for patients, families, carers, and loved ones to help us by thinking about our checklist while in hospital and ahead of discharge.

“We know while in hospital, the focus for patients is on getting better and recovering. It’s during this time that family, carers, and loved ones can play a key role in supporting us with ‘Home for Lunch’. If they consider our checklist, it will mean their loved one can get back to the comfort of their own home in a timely manner.”

Find out more about Home for Lunch in our latest video at Help NHSGGC get you Home for Lunch – YouTube. For further information on patient discharge, visit Home for Lunch – NHSGGC.

NHS Greater Greater Glasgow & Clyde launches Home for Lunch initiative

As winter poses increasing demand on our healthcare system, NHSGGC is encouraging family members to help get their loved ones ‘Home for Lunch’. 
 
Almost all patients that are ready to go home are discharged on the same day, but a number remain in hospital causing flow issues throughout the health care system. 
 
Doctors are reminding families of patients who are ready to be discharged to help make the required arrangements to get them back to their own home or care setting, at the earliest opportunity. 
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde ward staff and discharge teams work in parallel to create pathways for families to ensure that, when their loved ones are healthy enough to return home, they are supported in doing so.
 
As part of NHSGGC’s ABC winter campaign, the health board are attempting to ease pressure on our services and staff from the emergency department, through to patients being discharged. 
 
Dr Scott Davidson, Deputy Medical Director for Acute Services, said: “Winter places increasing demands on our health care services and families play an important role in helping to ease those pressures. 
 
“Our staff are working extremely hard to ensure we provide the best possible care for our patients and we are looking for your help to get loved ones home at the earliest opportunity. 
 
“We do not want patients spending any longer than they need to within our hospitals and want people to be in the comfort of their own home, without the risks associated with lengthy hospital stays. 
 
“I would like to thank families and members of the public who are doing their best to support our patients and staff as we continue to tackle winter pressures.”