Written question asked by Andrew George (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 21 November 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 23 November 2011. It was answered by Simon Burns (Conservative) on Monday, 28 November 2011 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Patients: Nutrition

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve the provision of basic hydration and nutrition to all NHS patients regardless of age, gender or diagnosis; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: All providers of regulated activities are required by law to have policies in place that protect people from the risks of inadequate nutrition and dehydration. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) can take action if these requirements are not being met. The Department welcomes the CQC's announcement that its recent Dignity and Nutrition Inspection programme will be followed up with a further focused inspection of 50 hospitals in the new year (2012).It is for health and social care providers to develop local nutrition and hydration policies and there are a number of best practice resources and guidelines available to help them do this. These include the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence clinical guideline to help the national health service identify patients who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition, and the ““Essence of Care”” benchmarking system which includes ““food and drink””. The relevant links are as follows:"http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG32"and"www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_119969"While national initiatives can stimulate thinking and offer guidance on best practice, local boards, nurse leaders (including community team leaders) ward sisters and matrons, are key to setting and maintaining excellent standards of hydration and nutrition in their clinical areas.

Secondary information