Methods	RCT Concealment of allocation: DONE Follow up of patients: 3 months Blinded assessment of outcomes: NO Baseline measurement: DONE Reliable primary outcome measure: DONE Protection against contamination: DONE
Participants	Location: Northamptonshire, UK Patients recovering from a hip replacement Mean age: treatment = 71; control = 70 (knee replacement, mean age treatment = 68, control = 72; hip replacement mean age treatment =71, control=70; hysterectomy, mean age treatment = 45, control= 44; older patients with a medical condition, mean age treatment = 77, control = 76; patients with chronic obstructive airways disease, mean age treatment = 71, control = 73) Treatment = 263 Control = 275
Interventions	Hospital at home (early discharge and admission avoidance) Type of service: community based nursing and therapy, nursing aids, GP had clinical responsibility Control group: in-patient hospital care
Outcomes	Mortality Re-admission Functional status Psychological well-being Quality of life Patient satisfaction Carer satisfaction Carer burden Resource use and cost
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors’ judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	A - Adequate