Centre for Policy on Ageing



Discharge of a "social case" — [delayed discharge in Malta]
Author(s)	P Zammit, P Ferry, A Vella
Journal title	BOLD, vol 16, no 2, February 2006
Publisher	International Institute on Ageing (United Nations - Malta), February 2006
Pages	pp 24-27
Source	http://www.inia.org.mt
Keywords	Delayed discharge ; Discharge [hospitals] ; Case studies ; Malta.
Annotation	In Malta, a "social case" in hospital may be defined as a (usually older) patient who is originally admitted for a medical or surgical problem, and after completion of treatment may not be sent home for reasons that are not medically or surgically related. The person is thus kept in hospital until an alternative place can be found, usually a nursing or residential care home. In the UK, this is frequently referred to by the negative stereotype "bed blocking", or otherwise, "delayed discharge". This case report of a 75 year old Maltese woman illustrates how incorrect labelling may result in patients potentially being denied the chance of successful rehabilitation that results in independent living. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-060510203 A
Classmark	LD:QKM: LD:QKJ: 69P: 76W
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.