UK minister calls for weekly weight checks for older patients
Older patients in hospitals and care homes should be weighed weekly to ensure they are not becoming malnourished according to a UK survey that showed 60% of older patients were at risk of becoming weaker because they did not get the food they wanted to eat or were denied assistance with eating and drinking.
The survey by the charity, Age Concern, found people over 80 were five times more likely to be malnourished than those under 50.
The UK Health Minister, Ivan Lewis, said that “weight loss is sometimes wrongly explained away as being due to illness when in reality it is because of a failure to put nutrition at the heart of people’s care”. Mr Lewis called on hospitals to follow best practice and immediately begin to monitor older people’s weight at regular intervals.
“The vast majority of nurses do their best in very difficult circumstances, but there are some examples of sheer neglect and malpractice that should be subject to disciplinary action,” the Minister said.
A special nutrition training program for all qualified health and social care workers will be introduced in the UK next May and a curriculum for trainee nurses next September.
