Medically optimised!

Agree with above, also a nurse, not in this field though. You need to be very direct with the Drs and ask what they think his prognosis is. He needs a need assessmemt as obviously is not at the baseline he was in pre infection. Sadly very common.
i experienced very similar with my own mum.

This is often not the case anymore - the OP would need to check what the local arrangements are in the hospital as many now operate a Discharge to Assess process where Social Care only get involved after discharge.

Gently OP - the hospital are saying it's time to start looking for 24 hour care homes as there isn't anything else they can do medically at this point (although I'd challenge this if he is still on a drip).

And I agree with dotty that you need to be quite forceful about making them understand his pre-hospital baseline. There is a tendency to assume old = dementia and existing high care needs, and therefore to not recognise what is a new symptom that needs investigating.

You need to speak to the discharge coordinator. The hospital must assign one when a patient with social care needs is admitted. They will act as liason between the various departments that need to assess him and formulate a discharge plan.

Discharge directly home sounds unlikely. A better option would be intermediate care/discharge to assess into a care home. This gives a month or 2 of funded care (regardless of the usual self-funding savings rules), which should come with a rehab package of physio etc. During this period they can see whether he improves once out of hospital (many people do once getting proper sleep and in a calmer environment than a ward) and make a long term plan.

I don't often comment on posts in elderly care because as a nurse it can be frustrating to read about poor care but I find these posts difficult to ignore. I would suggest that your Dad may have a hypoactive delirium, in very elderly people this is common and poorly recognised. Hypoactive delirium can persist for weeks after an infection is treated and is a serious concern, unfortunately prognosis is often poor. If he requires I/V fluids to maintain hydration ask what the plan is for managing hydration in the future, because out of a hospital setting this won't be given. It might be that it is the right decision that no more fluids are given by drip and your Dad may start to drink or take small amounts. If he was independent before this episode ask how do they account for the rapid decline. Medically optimized tends to be a term used for people who still have a high care need but at a level not requiring them to be in an acute hospital. Ask the medical team to be honest about his prognosis. I hope this is helpful in some way and not distressing but there is still a reluctance for some medical/ nursing staff not to be transparent about people's conditions. I hope he has seen or is under the care of a care of the elderly Consultant.

If he is literally sleeping all the time, unable to eat drink, I can’t imagine they mean to send him home. Maybe they expect him to go to a rehabilitation place?

you may have to pester them to find out the next step.

Has the infection cleared up now @anotherboy1?

Have the drs given you a prognosis? As in what they expect to happen next?

The hospital will have a social worker whose job it is to assess your dad and decide what level of care he needs in order to be discharged. The physio, occupational therapist, ward dr and others should also be involved. And you / family of course.

you will need to start asking for names, asking about discharge plans etc.

why did he get taken into hospital? what have they been treating him for?

Ask for a needs assessment, and some dietician input on nutrition and hydration.

(But realistically, it sounds like he no longer needs hospital care and will need discharge to somewhere suitable. There’s probably social services link for ward).

Being in hospital is horrible. It makes you feel ill to be there. It might well be that once he is home in his own bed his health massively improves. However there will need to be plans in place to make sure he is kept fed and clean and safe.

If the amount of care he needs is greater than what can be provided by visiting carers then he will need to be discharged to a care home.

Where did he live before he went into hospital? Can he go back there? What do you want to happen?