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Half of nurses in the North don't have time to screen older patients for malnutrition - Older patients Still Hungry to be Heard
A shocking 50 per cent of nurses in the North of England say they do not have enough time to screen people in later life for malnutrition, despite more than 180,000 patients a year leaving UK hospitals malnourished.
The new findings, released today as part of Age UK's Still Hungry to be Heard campaign, spark fresh fears that older people are still being left to go hungry in hospital.
Recognition of the problem of malnutrition has increased since Age UK's Hungry to be Heard campaign launched in 2006. Today marks the launch of the Still Hungry to be Heard report, which highlights that insufficient action is being taken to tackle malnutrition in people in later life and provides solutions to solve the issue
69 per cent of nurses polled in the North claim there are barriers to screening in their hospitals with lack of time (50 per cent) other tasks taking priority (42 per cent) and not enough training (36 per cent) being the most common constraints.
Shockingly less than half of hospitals (48 per cent) in the North screen older patients for malnutrition on admission to hospital and only 36 per cent during their stay.
Just six per cent screen people in later life on discharge.
Monitoring of malnutrition in hospitals is poor, with existing data revealing that 180,000 patients in the UK are still leaving hospital malnourished each year and 239 die of malnutrition during their stay. The research for Age UK, carried out by ICM, shows that only half of nurses in the North think that their hospital screens older in-patients often enough.
Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director at Age UK, said: "It's extremely worrying that nurses still don't feel confident that a fundamental problem such as malnourishment will be picked up when an older person enters hospital. While recognition of the issue is high, not enough is being done to ensure that words are transferring into action on the wards. It is vital that the Government, Care Quality Commission (CQC) and NHS trusts fulfil their role in tackling this serious issue. The Government must introduce compulsory monitoring so that this issue can be effectively tackled. Age UK is also calling for the CQC to undertake a comprehensive review of hospital mealtimes. This way hospitals not taking steps to effectively stop malnutrition will be exposed."
June Whitfield, 84, actress and ambassador for Age UK, said: "Going into hospital can be a traumatic experience for those of us who are older. Everyone should just be able to concentrate on getting better, without worrying about fundamental care needs such as food and nutrition and whether or not we are getting the help we need at mealtimes. The Still Hungry to be Heard campaign is raising the profile of this important issue and provides practical steps to help put a stop to people in later life going hungry in hospital."
As well as the impact on patient health, wellbeing and mortality there is also a financial impact of malnutrition with the cost to the NHS at 7.3 billion per year(14). This is due to longer or avoidable hospital stays, the need for more medication and higher risk of infection. In order to improve the quality of care, wards must tackle the issue of malnutrition. The Still Hungry to be Heard report continues to push the adoption of Age UK's seven recommended steps* which provide simple but effective solutions wards can adopt to ensure people in later life get the food and help they need at mealtimes.
Four years ago Age UK launched its 'Hungry to be Heard' campaign because too many older people were malnourished in hospitals. People in later life were either admitted to hospital malnourished and nothing was done about it, or became malnourished in hospital because they didn't get the right food or the help needed to eat it. In the past four years politicians have acknowledged the seriousness of this issue and many NHS trusts have taken steps to improve mealtimes for older patients. However, more needs to be done .
Guidelines state that hospitals are supposed to screen people in later life for malnutrition on arrival and during their stay. Currently, there is inconsistency from hospital to hospital and between wards. Some patients are screened inaccurately; others are screened accurately but no action is taken, and some are not screened at all.
The Government, the CQC and NHS trusts need to ensure malnutrition is tackled on wards. In addition to the seven steps Age UK's Still Hungry to be Heard campaign calls for the Government to introduce compulsory recording of malnutrition rates in hospitals. To date, there has been no accurate data to show how many patients are going into hospital malnourished and how many come out of hospital malnourished. It is also vital that the CQC undertakes an urgent review of hospital mealtimes.
If you would like to find out more about Still Hungry to be Heard or to request a copy of the report, call 0800 169 87 87, log onto www.ageuk.org.uk/htbh or email HTBH@ageuk.org.uk
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Sunday 05 February 2012
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