Moved by
Baroness Pitkeathley
113: After Clause 80, insert the following new Clause—
“Carers and safe discharge from hospital
(1) This section applies where—
(a) a person (“the patient”) is a qualifying hospital patient at a hospital, and
(b) the responsible NHS body considers that it is unlikely to be safe to discharge the patient from hospital unless care provided by one or more carers is available to the patient.
(2) It is the duty of the responsible NHS body to—
(a) consult the patient about their preferences regarding their care following discharge from hospital, and
(b) take reasonable steps to identify and consult any carer or potential carer of the patient about to be discharged.
(3) The NHS body must consult any carer or potential carer identified under subsection (2) to ascertain—
(a) whether the carer is able, and is likely to continue to be able, to provide care for the patient needing care, and
(b) whether the carer is willing, and is likely to continue to be willing, to do so.
(4) Having consulted the carer, the NHS body must cooperate with the local authority in relation to their duties under the Care Act 2014, the Health and Care Act 2006 and the Children Act 1989.
(5) For the purposes of this section—
(a) a “qualifying hospital patient” means a person being accommodated at—
(i) a health service hospital, or
(ii) an independent hospital in pursuance of arrangements made by an NHS body,
who is receiving (or who has received or is expected to receive) care.
(b) a “carer” means any person, including any child under the age of 18, who provides or intends to provide care in respect of a patient to whom the NHS may provide services, but a person is not to be regarded as a carer if they provide or intend to provide care under or by virtue of a contract, or as voluntary work.”
Member’s explanatory statement
This provision retains the principle and duty on a hospital, whether it be an NHS hospital or an independent hospital, to ensure that a patient must be safe to discharge from hospital and mirrors carers’ rights which were established in the Community Care (Delayed Discharges, etc) Act 2003.