SIPOC — Inpatient Discharge
Scopes ward discharge from the consultant's decision to the released bed across six steps, naming the three inputs and two outputs that carry no stated requirement and measuring the 7.5-hour decision-to-departure time against its 4-hour target.
Make it your own.
title "Inpatient discharge — medical wards"
scope "Discharge decision made" -> "Bed released to bed manager"
owner "Patient flow lead, Ward 7B"
metric "Decision-to-departure hours" target: 4 actual: 7.5 unit: hours
metric "Discharges before 12:00" target: 35% actual: 18% better: higher
suppliers: Consultant team, Ward pharmacy, Transport bureau, Community care coordinator
inputs:
- Consultant discharge decision
- Take-home medication order
- Discharge summary draft
- Transport booking request
- Community care package confirmation
process: Confirm discharge decision -> Dispense take-home medication -> Write discharge summary
-> Book patient transport -> Brief patient and family -> Release bed to bed manager
outputs: Discharge summary to GP, Dispensed medication bag, Cleaned empty bed, Updated bed-state record
customers: Patient and family, GP practice, Bed manager, Community nursing team
requirement input "Take-home medication order": "Submitted to pharmacy before 10:00 on the day of discharge" (CTQ)
requirement input "Consultant discharge decision": "Recorded on the ward round note, never verbal only"
requirement output "Discharge summary to GP": "Sent within 24 hours with every medication change stated" (CTQ)
requirement output "Cleaned empty bed": "Terminal clean signed off within 45 minutes of departure"