The Red Bag Scheme is a well-established initiative designed to support safe, effective, and person-centred transitions when a care home resident requires hospital admission. It accompanies the resident from the care home to the hospital and back, ensuring that essential clinical information and personal belongings remain together throughout the journey.
The Red Bag contains key documents such as the resident’s current medication list, DNACPR, RESTORE2 (or equivalent clinical information), relevant care plans, and details of any future care wishes. It also includes important personal items that promote comfort, dignity, and communication during the hospital stay.
A core component of the scheme is the Red Bag Checklist, which plays a vital role in ensuring the quality and consistency of the information provided.
Consistent use of the Red Bag supports early clinical decision making, improves communication between teams, reduces delays, and enables safe, well-coordinated discharge planning to begin as early as possible. Above all, it ensures that the resident’s needs, preferences, and baseline health information are clearly understood from the moment they arrive in the hospital. The Red Bag Scheme strengthens partnership working across health and social care, promotes continuity, and helps deliver a more efficient and person-centred experience for care home residents during periods of acute illness.
To promote understanding and encourage correct use of the Red Bag, dedicated awareness posters have been developed for both care home and hospital settings. These posters for care home and hospital settings act as quick reference guides and reinforce the key steps involved in preparing, transferring, and returning the Red Bag.
To support good governance and maintain consistency across the Red Bag Scheme, both care homes and hospital staff must report any lost red bags as soon as they are identified. Services should contact the ggc.redbag.enquiries@nhs.scot and quote the bag number and location to report the lost bag. This process ensures accurate tracking of bags, prevents disruption to the resident transfer pathway, and supports continuous improvement of the scheme across the system.
Red Bag (Hospital Transfer) Pathway Awareness and Training Video
This video is aimed at care home staff, hospital staff, and the wider public. The video introduces the Red Bag Pathway, explaining its purpose and how it supports safe, effective communication during resident transfers between care homes and the hospital. It outlines the essential information and equipment that should accompany the residents during these transfers. The video aims to improve understanding, promote consistent use of the Red Bag, and ultimately enhance continuity of care.
