"Poor discharge procedure"

My Father was admitted to Gloucester a couple of months ago. On that occasion we went to visit and found he was not on the ward, he was waiting to be transferred to another hospital. No one had informed us this was happening and to make matters worse on arrival at Stroud no bed was available so he was returned to Gloucester. He has since spent another 4 weeks in Gloucester. Yesterday we went to visit and again he was not in the ward, he was in the discharge waiting area. Why can't staff do something as basic as communicate with family members what is happening? This is epecially important if the patient is elderly, vulnerable and confused. It was also clear that he could have been discharged much sooner if an assessment had been carried out earlier, instead he took up a bed when there was no longer a need for nursing care.