Patients 'at risk of malnutrition'
Updated on 19 April 2007
Patients are at risk of malnutrition because there are not enough nurses to make sure they are properly fed, according to a new poll.
Almost half (46%) of nurses said there were not enough staff to help patients who may need help with eating and drinking. A similar number (42%) said they do not have enough time to make sure patients eat properly.
A report last August from the charity Age Concern revealed that 60% of older patients - who occupy two thirds of general hospital beds - are at risk of becoming malnourished or seeing their health get worse.
The charity, which is running a campaign on the issue, blames poor practice in the NHS with regard to hospital mealtimes. Those aged over 80 are particularly at risk, having a five times higher rate of malnutrition than the under-50s.
The Healthcare Commission is also investigating around 25 NHS trusts over their care of elderly patients, including whether patients' nutritional needs are met.
The poll from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) also revealed problems with feeding patients outside designated mealtimes. Just under half (49%) of the 2,193 nurses polled said inadequate availability of food outside mealtimes was a factor in poor nutrition.
The poll comes six years after the Government spent £40 million on a Better Hospital Food programme for the NHS. The Department of Health scrapped the scheme last year and the funding is now given directly to NHS trusts.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "Good food is important for all patients and we expect every trust to take their responsibilities on hospital food seriously. The Better Hospital Food programme has introduced a series of initiatives in the NHS to deliver high quality food and food services to patients.
"These include Protected Mealtimes, when all non-urgent clinical activity stops, and the introduction of 24-hour catering so patients can now ask a nurse or housekeeper for food, snacks and drinks at any time of the day or night.
"Hospital food has improved greatly over the past few years. It was not the Government but the independent Healthcare Commission who last month found that nearly all trusts (over 96%) were meeting the core standards on hospital food."
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