Admission and Discharge Policies and the Elderly: a Survey of Queensland Public Hospitals

Consumer groups and health professionals have expressed concerns about the impact of casemix funding on the elderly. Hospital admission and discharge policies have been advanced as a mechanism for ensuring quality of care for the aged. A questionnaire survey of Queensland public hospitals with a bed size of 15 or more (N = 98) was undertaken to determine the extent to which admission and discharge policies have been formulated and examine whether or not these policies take into account the special needs of the aged. Descriptive statistics revealed a relative policy void in that many hospitals do not have formal admission or discharge policies for the general population let alone formal policies which specifically address the needs of the aged. Moreover, a large number of hospitals do not employ discharge planning nurses or routinely inform the patients' carers about discharge matters. It would appear that despite prolonged calls for hospitals to address the special needs of the aged, many are yet to do so, at least as measured by their formal admission and discharge policies.