This service aims to facilitate home care after hospital discharge for chronic patients with dependency or frailty, and includes training for family members and caregivers for home attention. Since its launch in late 2024, the team has been reinforced and currently consists of six nurses, three from the hospital center and three from the Primary Care Management of Tenerife.
In 2025, the Unit carried out a total of 916 interventions with patients and over four hundred with caregivers, having served more than 1,500 patients since its inception. The UCCE guarantees coordinated care between different care levels and professionals, supporting and training the caregiver and providing necessary material resources.
The proactive model during the patient's hospital stay, with a comprehensive assessment, allows for continuous, multidisciplinary follow-up focused on the person. The service is provided to admitted users who benefit from continuity of care at home, facilitating their return home.
Communication for follow-up with health centers is carried out through the Community Liaison Nursing of the Primary Care Management, present in forty health zones in Tenerife. Family care units (UAF) conduct early assessments at the patient's home to ensure continuity of care and manage dependency.
This project draws on the prior experience of the Primary Care Management with the Hospital Universitario La Candelaria, which has been developing a similar initiative for two decades. The positive results prompted its development at HUC as well, representing an example of coordination between care levels and giving prominence to the patient and caregivers in their recovery process.
