Coming home from the hospital

Before you leave the hospital

Ask for the discharge summary and the medication list on paper.
Ask specifically which medications are new, which changed dose, and which have stopped.
Get a name and number for who to call with questions — and who to call after hours.
Book the follow-up appointment before you leave the building.
Ask what to watch for: which symptoms mean call, and which mean come back.
Ask what is coming home with them — home health visits, equipment, supplies — who arranges it, and when it arrives.
Ask what they can and can’t do this week: stairs, bathing, lifting, driving.
Check the prescriptions can actually be filled today. Ask about anything needing prior authorisation.
Collect the easily forgotten things: glasses, hearing aids, dentures, phone charger, keys.

The first 48 hours at home

Decide who is physically present, hour by hour, and write it down where everyone can see it.
Have one person check the new medication list against every bottle already in the house. Don’t throw anything out until it’s checked.
Put the medication schedule somewhere anyone helping can read it.
Note briefly each day how they seemed — the follow-up appointment will ask.
Confirm who is driving to the follow-up.

The first week

Call their regular doctor yourself, even if the hospital said records would be sent.
Agree out loud who is doing what, with everyone who is helping.
Ask the pharmacy to review the full list for anything that shouldn’t be taken together.
Write down what you wish you’d known on day one. The next discharge goes better with it.

FairNest keeps this kind of information — the medication list, the appointments, who is covering when — in one shared place for everyone helping. It’s free on the App Store.

This is a coordination checklist, not medical advice. Always follow the guidance of your own doctor, nurse or pharmacist.