Campaigns & issues

Ward staff need to take responsibility for the food needs of older people in hospital.

As the majority of the older people who are in-patients in NHS hospitals will have been admitted as an emergency, hospital staff need to:

• find out what they have/ have not been eating before admission
• find out what they normally eat
• find out any help they need
• share information with all members of the staff team
• make sure information is acted on  

At Homerton Hospital, London, the nutritional status of older people was of concern to staff, but there never seemed to be the time to tackle it as a priority issue. Mealtime food charts had been created, and were in place, but they were
not always completed.

Meal trays were not always left in a convenient place for patients and staff felt frustrated because they were not always able to help patients with their meals. No one person on the ward took responsibility for monitoring patients’ weight and food intake.

In response to these concerns, healthcare assistants were nominated to take the lead role in monitoring patients’ nutritional status, and provided with appropriate training.

As a result, the food charts are now completed in a timely way. The healthcare assistants ensure that patients requiring help with eating are allocated a nurse at meal times and that prescribed dietary supplements are given in flavours liked by patients. Any variations in the patients’ nutritional status are reported to qualified clinical staff.

Back to Hungry to be heard campaign main page.

Contact us

Email: Campaigns