Hospitals fail to help enough patients with eating problem

Some 18 per cent of people who cannot feed themselves receive no help from nurses – no improvement on 2002 despite a drive to raise awareness of malnutrition.

There was a a slight drop in the number saying their call bell was answered right away, to 16 per cent in 2009 from 17 per cent in each of the previous two years.

And almost half of patients said they did not have their medicines properly explained to them.

The survey of 69,000 inpatients did find big improvements in scores on hospital cleanliness and waiting times and fewer people saying they were put on mixed-sex wards.

The percentage of people saying they shared a sleeping area – for example a room or bay – with patients of the opposite sex fell to 18 per cent in 2009, from 25 per cent in 2006.

Almost one in four shared the same bathroom, down from 30 per cent in the previous three years.

Seven in 10 patients also rated their hospital as very clean in 2009, compared with 56 per cent in 2002.

Overall 44 per cent of people rated their care as excellent, 35 per cent very good, 13 per cent good, five per cent fair and two per cent poor. In 2002, 38 per cent rated it excellent.

Best-performing NHS trust serving patients in the region was South Tees which runs services in Middlesbrough and Northallerton. Worst-performing was Hull.

Cynthia Bower, chief executive of the Care Quality Commission, said: "Infection control and mixed-sex accommodation have been a big concern for patients, so it's encouraging to see the substantial improvements in these areas.

"It is unacceptable that almost 50 per cent of patients did not have the potential effects of medicine properly explained to them.

"I'm also concerned that some people who need help to eat are not getting enough assistance."

Tory Health Minister Simon Burns said: "We welcome the improvements in mixed-sex accommodation, which is something we have campaigned on for years.

"However there is still more to be done, and we will be working hard to drive through further improvements. Providers whose survey results show them falling behind should be very clear about the action they need to take."

Michelle Mitchell, charity director at Age UK, said: "Over a third of all older people are malnourished when they are admitted to hospital, so it's worrying one in three patients say they don't always get the help they need to eat meals in hospital and it's disappointing these numbers haven't improved since 2002."