Thursday, 3 April 2008

Go to hospital and starve

Uh-oh. 51 % of patients in NSW public hospitals are malnourished because the food the hospital is providing is worked out by administrators, without consultation with nutritionists or doctors.

An unrelated fragment, but a friend who is an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist told us some years ago that 80% of people admitted to hospital are dead within two years. I don't suppose not feeding the patients would help that statistic much.

1 comment:

Mattt said...

Did the report say how many are malnourished upon admission to hospital?

I can understand it. Some of the food is gross.

Nutrition is a big concern in acute care and the impact of malnutrition on patients recovery and length of stay is widely researched.

I'm not sure about the claim that administrators are responsible for the malnutrition. We have a full time dietitian on our ward who closely monitors patients and provides all sorts of assistance and assessment.