Support in Hospitals

It can be a worrying and uncertain time when you or the person you care for is in hospital, and you may wonder what will happen. Our hospital team are here to support you whilst the person you care for is in hospital.

A hospital admission can often be a very anxious and overwhelming time. We have a team based at our 3 major hospitals – Ipswich, West Suffolk and James Paget – available to support you as a family carer whilst the person you care for is in hospital.

We work closely with you and hospital staff, on the wards or in admission and discharge settings. Ensuring that all information is understood and most importantly you and the person you care for feel supported and valued.

The teams are available for face to face appointments as well as support over the phone. Some of the things we can support you with are:

Providing access to emotional support for you and your cared fors hospital journey.
Providing an opportunity for you to discuss your caring role, past and present.
Processing information can be daunting. Our hospitals team can assist you to navigate hospital processes and ensure you have an understanding of the information you are being provided.
Support with admission and discharge with access to the Hospital Discharge Toolkit from Carers Trust.
Making direct referrals to internal and external agencies, such as Customer First and signposting to relevant services, condition specific organisations etc.
Applying for grants that may be available.
Holding conversations about contingency planning (FCEP) & completing if you are in agreement.
Giving you access to hospital family carer packs and highlighting concessions and information available.
Ongoing support following discharge or bereavement.
Supporting you across borders.
Discuss your feelings about all aspects of your caring role, recognising the value you bring to this role, how it affects you, as well as looking at your own needs with the aim of experiencing a positive discharge.

I'm due to have an operation...

Is there help available for the person I care for whilst I'm in hospital?

If you need to be admitted to hospital yourself the team can advise on alternative care support whilst you are away, and how your caring role may change when you get home. We have funding available for family carers who have a planned hospital stay which may help you.

How can I contact the team?

Virtual Wards in West Suffolk

Virtual wards are a new way of delivering hospital level care to patients in their own home, allowing patients to manage their health and care at home over the short term. The service can provide remote monitoring and daily ward round calls allowing regular monitoring of the person you care for by their care team when they are at home.

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT) launched its virtual in November 2022 and started with the capacity to care for up to 15 patients. Since then, this has risen to 30, making it larger than many of the West Suffolk Hospital’s inpatient wards.

Supporting Young Carers at West Suffolk Hospitals

At West Suffolk hospital foundation trust we want to support all young carers accessing our services as both a visitor supporting a patient or if admitted themselves. Please speak with ward nursing staff to ask for a family carer pack.

Together with the Young People’s team we have created a helpful page to give you all the information young carers need to better support their cared for when attending hospital appointments or visiting them as an inpatient. This includes travel information, getting around the hospital and hospital jargon.

The person I care for has dementia

It would help them if I could visit when they need me, not just within visiting hours.

Suffolk Family carers is proud to support John’s Campaign. This calls for a policy welcoming family carers onto the wards outside of the normal visiting times, according to the needs of the person with a dementia and not restricted by stated visiting hours.

Hospital stays are generally detrimental to people with a dementia; they often experience longer stays and poorer outcomes than the general population. All too often, when the acute episode of care has ended the person with a dementia has lost their prior level of functioning and is unable to return home; devastating for the person with a dementia and the family, with significant cost consequences for on-going care.

Involving the family carer from admission to discharge has been proven to help ensure a better quality of care, an improved patient experience and improved outcomes (patient experience data provides an important evidence base on standards of care).

The key focus behind John’s Campaign is an open visiting culture; supporting carer access to the hospital outside of normal visiting hours, to enable them to be with the person with a dementia when they may be stressed, anxious, upset or lonely.

A hospital admission may be the first time a carer has been recognised or recognises themselves as such.

Suffolk Hospitals, aided by Suffolk Family Carers are well placed to identify family carers and offer support and advice that will help the carer retain their own wellbeing.