"Unsatisfactory discharge"

In my opinion my aunt had a very unsatisfactory discharge from hospital recently. She is blind and has cancer but was discharged to her own home without any family members being notified even though the hospital had been given contact details. Her home was without heating and as family were not aware of her discharge there was nobody to arrange meals for her. We also had no idea about the support package that had been arranged for her. If that wasn't bad enough her discharge letter was still on the hospital computer a week later so my aunts GP could not prescribe blood pressure tablets or renew a prescription for supplements that were sent home with her from hospital as she had no information about her discharge. As I understand things your GP is your first port of call when support is needed after a hospital stay. How can continuity of care be achieved if information is not made available ? I rang the hospital myself and asked for discharge papers to be faxed to my aunts GP in order to get the support needed. I might also add that my aunt needed a commode for night time use, upon her discharge and had to wait over a week for this. Communication costs nothing !!