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Issued: 11 October 2009
NUTRITIONAL CARE AND TREATMENT THE ‘BEDROCK’ OF QUALITY
Dr Mike Stroud, Chair of BAPEN says today at the opening of the BAPEN Conference (Cardiff 13 October 2009):
“No NHS or social care organisation can claim it is delivering quality care to patients and residents, if it does not have appropriate nutritional policies in place and nutritional care and treatment embedded into everyday professional practice.
The evidence is clear – if nutritional needs are ignored health outcomes are worse and malnourished individuals go to their GP more often, get admitted to hospital more frequently, stay on the wards for longer, succumb to infections, and may die or end up in long term care.”
BAPEN, the multi-disciplinary charity committed to combating malnutrition in hospital, care and community settings, is campaigning to embed screening for malnutrition on admission to all care settings and establish individual care plans for all those at risk.
Dr Stroud continued:
“Quality NHS care is defined as flexible, patient-centred, safe and effective.
‘Best practice’ nutritional care and treatment delivers against all these ‘quality’ markers. We know there is some way to go before all NHS and social care organisations fully implement nutritional policies and practices, but are heartened by the Care Quality Commission’s confirmation of its focus on nutrition as a cross-cutting indicator of quality.”
Dr Mike Stroud, Chair of BAPEN is available for interview
Media enquiries: Rhonda Smith Minerva 07887-714957 info@minervaprc.com