Glossary:Hospital discharge
This is the stable Version.
A discharge from hospital is the formal release of a patient from a hospital after a procedure or course of treatment. A discharge occurs whenever a patient leaves hospital upon completion of treatment, signing out against medical advice, transferring to another healthcare institution, or on death. A discharge includes inpatients or day cases and healthy newborn babies should also be included. Discharges should exclude transfers to another department within the same institution.