"Hotel California - you can check in but you can..."

My friend is currently on Ward 15, having received treatment for kidney stones and an infected kidney. She was transferred up to Preston from Chorley Hospital so the surgeon could carry out a particular procedure. The overall care she has had has been excellent, despite the nurses appearing to have massive workloads and there not being enough staff on the ward. The nurses on this ward are obviously very caring, but are constantly on the go for what appear to be very long shifts. My friend has described the care she received from the surgical team as excellent and I have no complaints whatsoever with the treatment and procedures she has received both at Chorley and at Preston. However, we seem to have hit a stumbling block, and my friend feels imprisoned in this hospital! On Friday she was told by one of the doctors that she was being sent home on either Monday or Tuesday and would be readmitted in about 8 weeks' time for further procedures to be carried out. I work full time so I took 2 week's unpaid leave so that I could be at home to care for her for a good while before I went back to work. By Sunday night we'd heard nothing, so I spoke to a staff nurse who said she knew nothing about it but that she would pass it on to the morning staff the next day. Monday came and went, as did Tuesday, and on both days the doctors told my friend that she would be going home. Yesterday the doctor from the surgical team told my friend that he was more than happy that with her progress and that she would be discharged "either today or tomorrow" and that an enhanced care plan would be put in place after contacting our existing care provider. The ward staff told my friend it would help if she could be packed ready for when the ambulance came to take her home, so I went up to the hospital yesterday afternoon and packed her bags. By the end of visiting yesterday we had still heard nothing, so we spoke to one of the staff who told us that, although the doctors were telling my friend she was going to be discharged, they had not passed this information on to the ward staff, so they couldn't set the wheels in motion regarding discharge, the care package, the commode she needs at home, etc. I myself telephoned our care provider, who confirmed that they had received no call from the hospital. It is now Wednesday, halfway through the first week, and I am concerned that this will spill into next week and I will have to return to work, having lost 2 weeks' wages for nothing, and leaving my friend to cope on her own. I will be ringing PALS at 10 o'clock as there seems to be a huge lack of communication between the doctors and ward staff. I wonder if anyone else has had the same experience?