Discharge planning for complex paediatric cases

The aim of this study was to identify the functions performed by social workers specifically engaged in paediatric discharge planning by undertaking a detailed analysis of discharge planning practice in forty cases referred to a specialist discharge planning team, at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melborne. A second aim was to identify the characteristics that distinguished complex cases from more routine cases. Discharge planning activity focused on the family, community and the organisation, with most cases requiring activity in all three areas. More complex cases were characterised by amount of social work time spent on the case, length of stay and number of discharge planner functions performed, but not number of prior admissions.