Last updated:
2nd October 2023
Meet Natalija
Working with patients and arranging their safe hospital discharge back into the community
I'm Natalija Seme and have been working as a Social Work Practitioner in the Health Liaison Team (hospital discharge) at Wokingham Borough Council for three years.
I am also training as an apprentice social worker. I work mainly with older people however as an apprentice social worker, I will be given the opportunity to work with young people that live in Wokingham Borough.
How I help patients in our community
My role involves working with patients and arranging their safe hospital discharge back into the community. This involves working closely with the hospital and community teams and patients’ families to ensure their living environment and care is set up appropriately.
We aim to empower patients to take charge of their lives and care, and to receive the best service from us at the council.
I love visiting patients and getting to know them and their families so we can work together to make a positive change to their lives. Helping patients become more independent fills me with great satisfaction and pride.
I attend discharge meetings, ‘best interest’ meetings and assess patients’ mental capacity in the hospital or later after discharge in the community.
In some cases, discharged patients may no longer be safe to go back to their home so alternative accommodation is considered and arranged, for example in a care home.
Once patients are back in their community, there may be a reablement potential and with the collaboration of the council’s therapy team, the care agency and service user, we can help reduce the need for long-term care. We can also help identify any long-term care needs, complete care and carer assessments.
We also refer patients to relevant local voluntary community services such as The Cow Shed, Food Bank or companionship services e.g. The Link Visiting Scheme and Community Navigators.
