Clinical risk: discharging patients with no-one at home

This article reports a study designed to assure if guidelines for discharge planning actually promoted optimal patient safety following endoscopic procedures. A flow chart was drafted to include discharge planning at the time of referral, immediately preprocedure, and postprocedure. A telephone survey was carried out postprocedure to see if patients were deemed to be safe at home, document pain and discomfort levels, and note if they thought they could have managed without their caregiver. Further education of endoscopists and nurses in the outpatient department was necessary to emphasize to patients preprocedure the need for a responsible adult to stay overnight following the procedure and to identify patients who may not be able to meet this requirement. The telephone survey showed a significant number of patients experienced a postprocedure issue. Planning and reviewing guidelines for patient discharge postendoscopically has significantly reduced potential problems and promoted safe practice for patients postprocedure.