National report on dignity and nutrition review published

This review was a targeted inspection programme of NHS hospitals. It looked at whether older people are treated with respect and whether they get food and drink that meets their needs.

Our findings

Of the 100 hospitals we inspected, we found that:

• 45 hospitals met both standards (they were ‘fully compliant’).
• 35 met both standards but needed to improve in one or both (they were ‘fully compliant, with improvements suggested’).
• 20 hospitals did not meet one or both standards (they were ‘non-compliant, with improvements required’).

Where we did find problems, some of the important issues were:

• patients’ privacy not being respected – for example, curtains and screens not being closed properly.
• call bells being put out of patients’ reach, or not answered soon enough.
• staff speaking to patients in a dismissive or disrespectful way.
• patients not being given the help they needed to eat.
• patients being interrupted during meals and having to leave their food unfinished.