For hospital discharge coordinators & social workers

Give families a head start when they leave the hospital

A printable 3-step family checklist you can staple to discharge summaries — plus independent resources for the most common questions families ask you.

The problem you see every day

Families leave hospital overwhelmed. They've been handed a stack of papers and told to "call My Aged Care" or "speak to your GP." Most don't know where to start, what's urgent, or what they're entitled to. A week later, they're back in your emergency department.

CarerCompass is a free, GP-written resource that gives families what you wish you had time to explain: which questions to ask, which services to call, what they might be entitled to, and what to do if something goes wrong at 3am.

Leaving hospital? 3 things to do this week.
A checklist for families — from CarerCompass (free, independent, GP-written)
① Before you leave the building
Ask for a written discharge summary — medications, diagnoses, follow-up appointments.
Confirm: who is the GP follow-up with? Name, phone number, when to call.
Ask: has a referral been made for home care, rehab, or aged-care assessment? If not, ask for one now.
② In the first 48 hours
Book the GP follow-up appointment — don't wait for them to call you.
Check whether you're eligible for carer payments or home care funding — scan the QR below or visit carercompass.org/entitlements.
Set up the medication schedule clearly. Morning / midday / evening / night.
③ If something goes wrong
A fall, sudden confusion, or you can't cope → carercompass.org/crisis — step-by-step for the next 10 minutes.
Not sure whether to call 000/999/911 or your GP? → The crisis guide helps you decide.
CarerCompass
carercompass.org — free, GP-written, no sign-up
📄 See all printable posters

Resources to share with families

These are the pages we'd recommend bookmarking or sharing when families ask you their most common post-discharge questions:

🏥 Hospital Discharge Guide
What to demand before they leave. The assessments, services, and rights.
🚨 3am Crisis Guide
Step-by-step when something goes wrong at home after discharge.
💰 Entitlements Checker
Carer payments and home care funding they might be missing.
📋 Action Plan Builder
5 questions → a prioritised plan for their specific situation.
⚖️ Power of Attorney
The window that closes. What it's called in their country, how to do it.
📱 Clinician QR Hub
QR codes you can show patients on your phone — one tap access.

About CarerCompass

CarerCompass is written by a practising GP, covers six countries (AU, UK, US, Canada, NZ, Ireland), and is free to use with no sign-up. No AI is used to generate content. Every claim links to a government source. We don't sell data, show ads on tools, or take pharma sponsorship.

If you'd like printable posters for your discharge lounge or ward, visit carercompass.org/posters. If you'd like to embed our tools on your hospital intranet, visit our widget gallery.