The move towards healthcare being delivered predominantly in people’s own homes has been seen as creating more choice and giving patients better access to care. How this is being delivered in practice is under question as district nursing teams endeavour to meet a range of needs and coordinate the transfer of care from hospital to home. The research project outlined here explored the views of district nurses on what are the ‘enablers’ and ‘barriers’ to the transfer of care from hospital to home. It also asked what the nurses felt were important issues in coordinating the discharges process on a daily basis. District nurses’ views are outlined and recommendations for future practice made. This study shows that the most important issue in the smooth transfer of care from hospital to the community is communication. Although other factors were identified, the research highlighted the importance of good communication between primary and secondary care providers. This article provides practical methods for translating these findings into daily practice.