Discharge Process
When a patient’s episode of care is completed they will be discharged from the Cork University Hospital service – whether the episode of care has been as an inpatient, a day patient or an outpatient.
When a patient is being discharged after and an inpatient or day case episode:
- They will be issued with follow-up outpatient appointments as required. Appointments are usually given to patients at the time of their departure from the ward or alternately sent out shortly afterwards. Sometimes it is not possible to issue appointments for further investigations at the time of discharge but these are usually forwarded in due course.
- The consultant will issue a discharge letter to the Medical Practitioner who referred the patient for service.
If a patient is discharged from hospital and has not been given a follow-up appointment and feels he/she should have received same they should contact the relevant consultant’s secretary.
If a patient is being seen in an Outpatients setting, they will receive follow-up appointments at the clinic until the follow-up care is completed – at which point the patient will be discharged from the service and no follow-up appointment will be given.