subject: Nursing Personnel- Hospitals failing the elderly over nutrition [print this page] The Department of Health, said, "local hospitals set their own policies on nutritional care".
A report published back in 2005 said, on average the cost of malnutrition to the NHS is 7.3 billion every year, partly through the need for prolonged stays in hospital, contributing to infections and the need for drugs to combat the infections.
In 2006, The National Institute of health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended that malnutrition tests should be standard practice for all patients being admitted into hospital and where necessary specialist help should be available for patients suffering from malnutrition.
The screening of patients being admitted into hospital is also backed by the Care Quality Commission, which monitors hospital performance.
From the survey of nurses polled across the UK, only 436 said that their trust screened patients on admission and 294 said, "they were not confident that malnutrition would be spotted at this point".
Michelle Mitchell, from Age UK, said, "The poll results were extremely worrying. Not enough is being done to ensure words are transferring into actions on the wards. It is vital that the government, Care Quality Commission and the NHS trusts fulfil their role in tackling the serious issue. The government must introduce compulsory monitoring so that this issue can be tackled effectively".
Furthermore, the charity wants all trusts to train staff to spot malnutrition and to introduce a system such as "protected mealtimes", where patients are left to eat their food without being interrupted by doctors and nurses on their rounds. Simple techniques such as a red tray with their meal could be introduced to help those who need more help with their food. This would ensure that ward staff can step in and help out if not enough food is taken.
However, some trusts have already taken other steps to improve the way they identify and help malnourished patients being admitted.
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals Trust has recruited extra volunteers at mealtimes to help patients eat, even with the Chief Executive taking the training and helping.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said, "That local hospitals were responsible for producing their own policies on nutritional care and pointed to standards set by the Care Quality Commission which say that patients should be screened on admission". He said, "Malnutrition can be a consequence of serious illness or medication or as a result of treatments. All patients should be individually assessed when admitted to hospital and provided with nutritious, properly prepared food at times that are appropriate to their individual needs. There are a number of systems in place, such as the use of identifiable trays, to ensure that patients who require assistance are recognised and given the help they need".
With the NHS under continued scrutiny, improved patient nutritional care would save the NHS billions per year, billions that can be used to protect frontline staff. At Nursing Personnel we only select nurses who can meet the high professional standards our clients expect in these challenging times.
Nursing Personnel is a specialist recruitment agency with over 10 years experience in providing jobs for nurses at all levels in both the NHS and private healthcare sectors. We provide nursing jobs across all specialisations and grades including NHS hospital jobs, theatre nurse jobs, ODP jobs, psychiatric nurse jobs, practice nurse jobs, community nurse jobs, agency nursing jobs, midwifery jobs and international nurse jobs.
Nursing Personnel- Hospitals failing the elderly over nutrition
