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Hospitals accused of neglect in feeding elderly

By HELEN PUTTICK, The Herald

 February 3, 2003 

HOSPITALS are failing to feed elderly people properly, according to leading charities.

The charities blamed the drive to change nurses' training and deliver hi-tech medicine on a strict budget, which, they said, meant less emphasis on basic care for the elderly.

Maureen O'Neill, director of Age Concern Scotland, said the government's attempt to have the best drugs, technology and clinical training had been prioritised too far over ensuring the more personal and simple welfare of the frail.

In an interview to mark the charity's 60th anniversary, she said uneaten meals were re-moved from elderly patients' bedsides without checks on why they had not had the food. She said elderly stroke patients could end up not eating because meals were placed out of their reach, or they could not use a fork, and no-one asked what problems they were having.

Other key care organisations backed her stance.

Professor Debbie Tolson, Scotland's only professor of gerontological (elderly) nursing, questioned whether Scotland's nurses were given adequate training to deal with the elderly even though they make up some 65% of the adults using acute hospital services.

Mrs O'Neill said stories such as the uneaten meals were "very common" among pensioners in touch with Age Concern.

She said the training of nurses had changed, equipping them with medical skills but undervaluing the importance of their bedside manner. "You can have all these standards in the world for the treatment ... but if no-one takes time to make sure you have got a drink and cares about why your daughter or husband has not turned up to visit, then what is the price?"

In Scotland, at least £115m was spent on medical research in the current financial year. Care organisations do not want to see less invested in finding cures, but feel more should be spent ensuring basic welfare needs are also met.

Mrs O'Neill said "there needs to be an equal emphasis on allowing that balance between being very hi-tech and providing sufficient TLC."

Other organisations including Help the Aged in Scotland and the Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Scotland agreed caring needs to become a higher priority, saying nurse shortages created a pressured environment at the expense of the human touch. Elizabeth Duncan, of Help the Aged, described the neglect of simple needs like providing frail patients with water to drink as worrying.

Mrs O'Neill said trainee nurses now sat through more academia, but "I would like to see equal emphasis on the personal elements of care ... Training has gone too far towards medical and technical skills and further away from enabling staff to show TLC."

Professor Tolson said re-search since the 1980s had "questioned the adequacy of the basic preparation of nurses to care for older people", adding: "I suspect it has not particularly improved." She blamed lack of staff but said work on the problem has begun with a leaflet on nutrition for the frail widely distributed.

The Scottish Executive said an expert group on the issue found older people were "generally satisfied with their care" and there had been roadshows to stress to staff the importance of good nutritional care for older people and an investment of around £750,000 in training packs for nurses.

The Royal College of Nursing said: "We are exploring ways to increase the number of nurses working in Scotland to promote better patient care."


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