Southend Enhanced Discharge to Assess (SED’s)

If you are being cared for by the SED’s service, this information is to help you and your family understand what to expect during your care.

Our Trust is working in partnership with Southend City Council and Southend Social Care Services to help you if you reside in areas covered by Southend City Council that may need care or support at home following a hospital admission. 

The SEDs service helps with enabling you to be safely discharged from hospital as soon as you are medically optimised and who need further assessment at home to determine the level of support you may need once you are back in your home environment.

This service will provide therapy and daily living support to make sure you are encouraged to be independent as possible and enable you to reach your optimum functional level so your needs can be assessed accurately. 

The service is led by the Integrated Care team and delivered by physiotherapists, occupational therapist and senior healthcare assistants (HCA).

How you are referred to us

Once your doctor or clinical team have confirmed you have received all required treatment in hospital and are medically optimised, your ward nurses will inform the Integrated Discharge Team (IDT) that you are fit for discharge, you will be assessed at this point by a nurse from the IDT- or a therapist on the ward, they will assess and discuss your needs with you and will recommend the level of care that is required to be delivered by the SEDs team to support you back home.

How we care for you when you are at home

We will have received a care plan which details all your current needs before you are discharged home. This will enable the HCAs and Therapist to know exactly what is required to assist you at home. Your progress will be discussed at regular multi-disciplinary meetings which will include Social Care. Once the MDT feel that you are ready to transfer from SEDS and it is identified that you would benefit from a further period of care, Social Care will assess your needs and arrange a suitable care package. Depending on your assessed needs at this point, this could be a period of reablement or long-term care.  Social care will provide information about charging during your assessment.

It is important that your discharge letter is kept in your property at all times so we can ensure any important information about your hospital stay and medication is easily available for the HCAs.

The HCAs can assist with a wide variety of daily living tasks depending on your needs including:

• washing and dressing.
• toileting and hygiene needs.
• mobility needs.
• preparing ready meals, light snacks, and drinks.
• medication administration and prompting.

The Therapy team will assist you with gaining confidence in mobility and physiotherapy, and they will also be able to assess for any equipment needs required and provide advice on how to make things easier for you at home.

Visit schedule 

Depending on your care plan and required needs, SEDs can accommodate home care visits up to four times a day, this will be identified on your care plan.

Therapy visits may be separate appointments, but you will be informed of days and times.

Visiting times:

• Morning visit – between 7am to 11.30am.
• Lunchtime visit – between 12noon and 2.30pm.
• Tea-time visit – between 3pm and 6pm.
• Bedtime visit – 7pm to 10pm.

We will do our utmost to visit you within a set timeframe each day, please understand that sometimes we may be a little early or late, due to unforeseen circumstances such as traffic or emergencies.

To help make sure the care we deliver is of the highest standard, please:

• talk to staff about your recovery and follow the advice that you are given. If there is anything you don’t understand, please tell us so that we can explain it to you.
• let us know about any outpatient appointments or any other commitments that will mean you will not be in when we visit you.
• look after any equipment that is issued to you as part of your care.
• keep your medicines safe and secure at all times and store as directed.
• please refrain from smoking at least an hour before we visit and during.
• our visiting team will always comply with latest Health and safety advice with PPE (Face masks, gloves, and aprons etc).

The team

The team is made up of senior health care assistants, who are led and guided by qualified nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapist, and a multi-disciplinary team of professionals.

They have a broad range of healthcare skills and experience to support you during this period of recovery and settling back into your own home.

Staff work closely together as an integrated team to provide you with the best possible care. They will work alongside social care and other community services to ensure a seamless service.

When you may need to contact us

You or your family member should contact the SEDs service if:

• you have an unexpected change in your medical condition and require advice
• you are unsure how to take your medication or require advice
• you have a problem with a piece of equipment provided on your discharge
• a staff member has not arrived within the allocated time frame
• you will not be available for your planned visit(s), including if you are admitted into hospital.

Contact us

Call us on 01268 524900 using extensions 3702/3868/3956/8846 between Monday and Sunday between 8am and 7pm.