Skip to content | Privacy and cookies | Accessibility

Enhanced Recovery in Medicine

Getting you better; so you can leave hospital safely and at the right time

Enhanced recovery in medicine is a new approach to caring for patients admitted as a medical emergency to Torbay Hospital. This approach involves patients and their families/carers in decisions about their care to ensure our patients leave hospital safely and at the right time. Key to enhanced recovery in medicine is that patients are partners in their own care:

  • It lets people choose what is best for them throughout the course of their treatment with help and advice from healthcare professionals.
  • “No decisions about me, without me”.
  • The patient, carer and multidisciplinary team (MDT) work together to agree a plan for recovery.

The benefits of enhanced recovery in medicine are that it:

  • improves patient and family/carer experience.
  • helps patients get better sooner.
  • helps patients gain early independence
  • improves patients’ mobilisation.
  • reduces the time some patients stay in hospital.

If you are admitted to hospital unexpectedly, these are the enhanced recovery in medicine principles that you can adopt to get help you get better sooner:

  • Early mobilisation – get out of bed and stretch your legs.

  • Privacy and Dignity – get dressed in day clothes and use the shower/washing facilities.

  • Hydration – drink plenty of fluids to keep hydrated by using the ward drinks trolley at any time.

  • “No decision about me, without me” – be involved in decisions about your care every step of the way through your stay in hospital. Your carer/family member can come to the ward round to support you and discuss the care plan with you and the consultant.

  • Energy drinks – take an energy drink each day to boost your calorie intake.

  • Plan your journey home – when you know which day you are going to leave hospital, plan how you will be getting home as early as possible.

This short film tells you more about Enhanced Recovery and how it works in practice.

For more information about enhanced recovery in medicine, please contact us via our contact form.