Some equipment may need to be self funded, but equipment essential for discharge will provided to patients.

Roles and responsibilities can vary across teams, but in general:

Nurses can order hospital beds, small aids and pressure care e.g mattresses, cushions.

Physiotherapists can order equipment to help you mobilise e.g walking stick, zimmer frame, wheelchairs.

Occupational Therapists (OT) can order equipment to help with washing yourself and riser-recliner chairs as well as mobility equipment such as wheelchairs.

Each therapies service works differently in terms of referrals; contact your switchboard to speak directly to the department you require.

OTs can also arrange for rails, ramps, wet rooms, stairlifts and other larger adaptations to a patient's home; these assessments tend to be done by OT's working for social services, you can refer to Adult Social Care by calling 03001232224. Some of these items require no payment, some require a financial contribution towards the total and some will need to be completely funded by the person. The OT will explain this to the individual as part of the assessment process. Larger adaptations can take some time to plan and organise and may not be ready by the time a person is discharged home. Therefore it is important to work as an MDT to understand how best to support the individual with the current options open to them.

The link below gives more information about how equipment is issued in the community.