Hospital discharge and your LPA
Guidance from Estate Advisory Group
Written and legally reviewed by Ramani Gill TEP, Solicitor and private client practitioner·Last reviewed 13 August 2026
Discharge planning moves fast. A registered health and welfare attorney has a formal say in it.
Your position
- Where the donor lacks capacity to decide where they go, the decision is yours as welfare attorney, in their best interests.
- Ask for the LPA to be scanned onto the record on day one, and give the ward a certified copy.
- You are entitled to be part of the discharge meeting and to see the discharge plan.
- Ask for a CHC checklist before discharge, not after. See NHS Continuing Healthcare.
If the plan is not safe
- Say clearly and in writing that you do not agree, and why.
- Ask for an occupational therapy home assessment and a care package to be in place first.
- Ask about intermediate care, reablement or a discharge-to-assess bed.
- Escalate to the discharge coordinator, then PALS, then a formal complaint.
A worked example
Consider Norman, discharged after a fall with a hip fracture. The ward proposes sending him home the same afternoon with no care package, on the basis that his wife is 'around'. His son Peter, holding Norman's registered health and welfare LPA, points out that Norman's wife has her own mobility problems and cannot safely help him in and out of bed. Peter puts his objection in writing to the discharge coordinator the same morning, asks for an occupational therapy assessment of the home first, and requests a short period of reablement care instead. The discharge is delayed by four days while a care package is arranged — a delay that avoids what would very likely have been a readmission within the week.
Discharge to assess and why it matters
Many hospitals now use a 'discharge to assess' model, where the donor leaves hospital before their long-term care needs are fully assessed, on the basis that assessment happens more accurately at home. This can be genuinely better for recovery, but it relies on a short-term care package actually being in place on day one. As attorney, confirm in writing exactly what support has been arranged, for how long, and who to call if it does not turn up — do not accept a vague assurance that 'something will be sorted'.
What you cannot do
You cannot keep the donor in hospital
An attorney cannot require continued admission, and cannot commit to paying for care under a health and welfare LPA. Funding decisions need the financial attorney.
Common questions
Can the hospital discharge to a care home without me?
Not where the donor lacks capacity and you hold a registered health and welfare LPA covering residence. You must be consulted.
Do I have to take my parent into my own home?
No. You are never obliged to provide care yourself.
What if the hospital discharges before I can be reached?
Raise it immediately through PALS and in writing; a documented failure to consult a known attorney supports a formal complaint and can affect future planning.
Should the financial attorney be involved in discharge meetings too?
It helps, since care funding questions often surface at discharge, but the welfare decision about where the donor goes remains the health and welfare attorney's to make.
Read next
Where this fits
This page is part of Health and care decisions. The pages below take it further.
- Health & Welfare LPA
The LP1H: care, treatment decisions and life-sustaining treatment.
- Make an LPA online
The whole journey end to end: questions, documents, signing and registration.
Review and sources
Reviewed by Ramani Gill TEP, Solicitor and private client practitioner. Last reviewed 13 August 2026. We recheck fees, forms and Office of the Public Guardian guidance whenever they change — see our editorial policy.
Official sources
Most people make both LPAs
Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare together cost £79 instead of £98 separately.
The Office of the Public Guardian charges a separate £92 to register each LPA.
This is general information about how Lasting Powers of Attorney work in England and Wales. It is not legal advice about your situation. What we do and do not do.
Published by Estate Advisory Group