Age UK: Nearly one in five hospitals “fail” elderly patients

Michelle Mitchell, charity director leading Age UK’s ‘Hungry to be Heard’ campaign responds to the Care Quality Commission's findings that elderly patients are often mistreated in hospitals.

" Today’s findings show that nearly one in five hospitals completely fail to ensure that patients are eating and treated with dignity, and in total nearly half of all hospitals are not doing enough. This shows shocking complacency on the part of those hospitals towards an essential part of good healthcare and there are no excuses.

"Not ensuring that a patient eats well enough to aid their recovery is a basic failing – the importance of which Age UK has highlighted repeatedly over the years. We want to see the important work done by the CQC’s spot checks strengthened. The government must compel all hospitals to publish data showing malnutrition rates on their wards in a form the public can understand."