‘Home for Lunch’ Campaign Aims to Speed Up Hospital Discharges and Improve Wellbeing

Health and care services across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have launched a campaign this week to help patients get ‘Home for lunch’ on the day they are ready to leave hospital. The campaign seeks to improve patient wellbeing and reduce strain on hospital services.

Why Getting Home Matters

Staying in hospital when care is no longer required can negatively affect mental and physical health, particularly for older patients. According to research, patients over the age of 80 can experience muscle ageing equivalent to 10 years after just a week in bed. Prolonged hospital stays also increase the risk of infections and can reduce mobility, with between 16% and 65% of older people struggling to walk independently after extended bed rest.

Kim O’Keeffe, Dual Chief Nursing Officer for Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, highlighted the importance of getting patients home in daylight hours, saying it is crucial for older patients and those with cognitive impairments. “Being in familiar surroundings with support from loved ones is one of the best things for mental wellbeing. Hospitals are unfamiliar and can be very confusing,” Kim explained.

Benefits for Patients and Services

Dr Merry Kane, Chief Medical Officer at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals, emphasised how earlier discharges help the entire healthcare system. “Getting patients home earlier in the day will not only help to reduce their risk of harm, it will also help to free up capacity across the whole system. Wards will have space to receive patients in the afternoon, so more beds are available. Ambulances can offload patients sooner, so paramedics can then get back out into the community.”

The campaign also encourages relatives and friends of patients to assist in early discharges by arranging transport, preparing homes, and providing essentials for those returning home. Babs Rounsevell MBE, Managing Director at CHAOS Group, urged the community to support loved ones during their transition from hospital to home. “We need local people to help us too; if you’ve a loved one in hospital, please help get them back home as quickly as possible,” Babs said.

Focused Efforts to Improve Discharges

The campaign is part of NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly’s winter plans to address system pressures, including overcrowding in emergency departments and lengthy ambulance handovers. A special discharge event from 25 to 29 November aims to increase daily discharges of medically fit patients at the Royal Cornwall Hospital by at least 20 each weekday.

Aisling Crombie, Director of Nursing for NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, expressed her support for the campaign. “There are not only benefits for those who are able to recover more comfortably back home but also for our staff who are able to deliver care for those that urgently need to be in a hospital setting.”

Campaign Details

The ‘Home for lunch’ campaign will be promoted through social media, digital screen advertising, and radio ads on community stations such as CHBN. It is part of a broader winter communications effort encouraging local communities to access the right services for their needs.

For more information, keep an eye on updates from NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly on their website and social media platforms.