CQC urges better nutritional care for older people in hospital

13th October 2011, 10:16am

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) today publishes a report into the standards of care that older people receive in hospital – and calls for a system-wide response to combat the failings identified.

The key themes observed in hospitals that were failing to meet the essential standard relating to nutrition were:

* People not given the help they needed to eat, meaning they struggled to eat or were physically unable to eat meals
* People interrupted during meals and having to leave their food unfinished
* People's needs not assessed properly, which meant they didn't always get the care they needed – for example, specialist diets
* Records of food and drink not kept accurately so progress was not monitored
* Patients not able to clean their hands before meals

This report summarises the findings of 100 unannounced inspections of NHS acute hospitals which took place between March and June, looking at whether the essential standards of dignity and nutrition were being met on wards caring for older people.

Around half of the hospitals needed to do more to ensure that they were meeting people's needs – with 20 of the hospitals visited failing to meet essential standards required by law.

Of the 100 hospitals inspected:

* 45 hospitals were fully compliant – meeting the essential standards relating to both dignity and nutrition.
* 35 met both standards but still needed to make improvements in one or both
* 20 hospitals did not meet one or both standards – with major concerns identified in two cases.

Commenting on the report, Dame Jo Williams, chair of CQC said: "Too often, our inspectors saw the delivery of care treated as a task that needed to be completed.

"Those responsible for the training and development of staff, particularly in nursing, need to look long and hard at why the focus has become the unit of work, rather than the person who needs to be looked after - and how this can be changed.

"Care professionals need to strike the right balance between ensuring that people get the care they need in a safe way – recording how much they have eaten and drunk, what medications they have taken and when – while not prioritising processes over people.

"Task-focused care is not person-centred care. Often, what is needed is kindness and compassion … which cost nothing."

The 'Dignity and Nutrition' inspection programme was launched in response to a request by the Secretary of State following a report by the Patients Association.

The inspection programme also addressed issues raised in the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report and Age UK's 'Hungry to be Heard' campaign.

Related Articles:

• 10 Nov 2011 - Patients Association report criticises quality of hospital care
• 12 Oct 2011 - Nine million hospital meals go uneaten, finds survey
• 23 Sep 2011 - NACC National Training & Development Forum 2011
• 24 Jun 2011 - Standards of care and nutrition need to improve at Taunton nursing home, says CQC

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