The pathway from the acute setting to a community setting takes many cogs to make the wheel turn. We have worked with OPAT services for 20 years to provide partnership to support this pathway.

The process of discharging a patient to the community for care is a multi-disciplinary approach, from organising a digital/paper pathway within the hospital in order to facilitate an inpatient to become an outpatient to engaging with the community teams to provide the clinical care and support. Key components in this process are having the right devices that allow safe and efficient delivery of therapy and the care and maintenance of the devices that the patients go home with.

The vital analysis must be ‘the right device for the right patient at the right time’. All patients and situation are different so patient input with clinical assessment is key.