Early Supported Discharge team

Early Supported Discharge team

NCH&C’s Early Supported Discharge (ESD) teams provide specialist rehabilitation to patients who have had a stroke by supporting them in their own home. The team work with eligible patients who have been discharged from Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital or Beech Ward at Norwich Community Hospital.

The service can help patients who have suffered a mild to moderate stroke to leave hospital sooner.

OTs in this team (pictured) have implemented small changes such as providing a perching stool for a patient so that she could sit while ironing; adding foam padding to a pen which allowed a patient to write a birthday card for his wife; suggesting a patient with double vision after stroke use a patch on one eye to enable them to read; and making small changes to furniture positions to improve trunk mobility and family interaction. These changes have all had huge impacts in helping patients maximise their independence as quickly as possible after stroke.