Sending-hospital coordination for repatriation from China

Release readiness

Clarify discharge decision, proposed time, reason for delay and support required during transfer to vehicle.

Clinical summary

Provide an authorised current summary, medication and equipment plan to the receiving professional as appropriate.

Handover point

Name ward or entrance contact, who assists loading and what triggers reassessment if the patient changes before movement.

The hospital is not merely an address for pickup

The sending team knows the current condition, medication, devices and discharge criteria. Ask it to specify a safe transfer point and which clinical information the receiving team needs. The coordinator can arrange a vehicle to that point but should not ask a driver to decide whether the patient can leave. If a flight requires current medical documentation, schedule its issuance with the airline’s actual policy and the hospital’s review, rather than writing a generic letter too early. A late change in support needs should reach the airline, transport team and receiver before departure.

Ask what the sending team is actually releasing

A hospital may provide a discharge plan, a clinical summary or a statement about fitness for the proposed journey; these have different purposes. Establish current support, medication, mobility, infection or equipment issues where relevant, and what the receiving clinician must review. The responsible clinician determines whether movement is appropriate and may change that decision if the patient deteriorates. A coordinator should translate the departure conditions into requests for the carrier and ground supplier without claiming to issue a medical certificate or decide travel suitability.

Give the ward a realistic pickup instruction

Confirm building, floor or entrance, release time window, transport crew identification and where bedside responsibility passes. Some facilities may require the team to meet at an entrance rather than enter the ward; obtain the actual instruction for this case. Tell the ward whether flight acceptance and receiving care are confirmed or still pending. If pickup is delayed, ask who maintains care until the team arrives. A hospital cannot be treated as a generic street address, and a vehicle should not be dispatched on an assumed discharge time alone.

A final operational check

Agree a single release update from the ward to the case owner and vehicle dispatcher. If a planned afternoon discharge is delayed, the airline and destination receiver may need revision too. The hospital’s role is to assess and hand over its patient, while transport teams must separately confirm they can accept the revised support and timing.

Decision pathway

If the patient is not released, postpone vehicle and airline commitments; if release occurs, document the actual transfer to the transport team.

Information for a useful first enquiry

Hospital/ward contact; discharge status and time; mobility/equipment; receiving facility; route and payer.

For detailed clinical records, use a direct authorised exchange rather than this public page.