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Gordon Lishman, Director General of Age Concern said:

“It is shocking that so many nurses say they do not always have enough time for the essential care of helping patients with eating and drinking. Age Concern fully supports the RCN’s campaign to tackle this problem with practical solutions. 

“We launched our own campaign last year because the failure to provide appropriate food and help with eating is hitting older people hardest. It is older patients who occupy two thirds of hospital beds(1) and six out of ten(2) older patients are at risk of becoming malnourished or their situation getting worse while in hospital.

“Urgent action is now needed to stop this scandal.  For too long basic but essential care has been undervalued - putting patients’ lives at risk. It is now the role of everyone from ward to board to ensure effective systems are in place. Food and help with eating should be a top priority for all ward staff and they should be given time to perform this task.”

Notes to editors:
- Interviews and case studies are available contact Age Concern press office on 020 8765 7511

- Age Concern launched its Hungry to be Heard campaign August 2006 and has been inundated with heartbreaking stories of older patients being denied basic care and help with food. The charity is calling on all hospitals to adopt seven steps to end this scandal:

1) Hospital staff must listen to older people, and their relatives and carers
2) All ward staff must become ‘food aware’
3) Hospital staff must follow their own professional codes and guidance from other bodies
4) Older people must be assessed for the signs or danger of malnourishment on admission and at regular intervals during their stay
5) Introduce ‘protected mealtimes’
6) Implement a ‘red tray system’ and ensure that it works in practice
7) Use volunteers where appropriate 

- As part of their campaign Age Concern is urging older people or their families to visit www.ageconcern.org.uk/hungrytobeheard and record their own experience eating in hospitals. 

- Age Concern’s own research found that nine out of ten nurses do not always have time to help patients who need assistance with eating. (ICM Polling conducted for Age Concern, August 06)
 
- Patients over 80 admitted to hospital have a five times higher prevalence of malnutrition than those under the age of 50.(Malnutrition within an Ageing Population: A Call to Action, European Nutrition for Health Alliance, August 2005

- The toll of malnutrition on health costs in the UK is estimated to exceed £7.3 billion per year – much more than obesity. (UK costs. Malnutrition among Older People in the Community, British Association for Pateneral and Enteral Nutrition, May 2006).
 
- On May 11th Age Concern England and Age Concern London will be hosting a ‘Hungry to be Heard listening event’ where older people will be able to present their experience to listeners who have key positions in the health service, in particular in London, and through discussion agree on some good practice solutions.

-Ends-

End Notes:
1)  National Service Framework for Older People. Department of Health, March 2001
2) Malnutrition within an Ageing Population: A Call to Action, European Nutrition for Health Alliance, August 2005. 

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