Red bag scheme – patient update

June 12, 2019

Thank you for supporting the red bag project in Sandwell.

It has come to light that that some colleagues are giving red bags to patients families. The red bags guide has been circulated to colleagues and instructions on where the bag needs to go.

The general principles are that the red bag remains and travels with the care home resident throughout their hospital journey. The bags are designed to be reusable and need to be returned to the originating care home after use. If a resident is discharged to a different care home, not the home they arrived from, their red bag will need to travel with them to their new destination and arrangements will be made to return the bag to the originating care home at a later date.

If a care home resident dies while in hospital, please contact the care home in the first instance to confirm the arrangements to return the bag to the home as soon as possible. If you locate a Sandwell red bag and are unsure of the return process you can contact the Sandwell red bag project team.

The red bag project team can be contacted by emailing Sandwell_Redbag@sandwell.gov.uk or calling the BCF red bag project team on 0121 569 5513.

For more details regarding the red bag scheme please click here.

Note: Please store the red bag and any contents securely until collection can be arranged and do not dispose of the bag, personal belongings or transfer documents unless specifically instructed to do so. The red bag should only be disposed of where specific infection prevention advice is received that indicates the bag cannot be reused and only with the agreement of the Sandwell red bag project team.