Dignity and nutrition for older people

Our inspectors found many examples of hospitals that were providing good care in relation to dignity and nutrition.

The examples below reflect a culture that puts patients first. Hospitals can learn from these examples and apply them to their own service.

• Staff documented patients’ wishes and preferences, or involved relatives when the patient did not have the capacity to, and regularly updated and reviewed the information.
• Patients were asked how they wanted to be addressed.
• Staff were familiar with patients’ needs which meant they could anticipate their care requirements.
• Hospitals made sure that patients’ privacy was respected, for example when bedside curtains were closed – some hospitals did this by using ‘Do not enter’ signs.
• Hospitals provided flexible catering such as a choice of meals, portion sizes and when they could be ordered.

We also found that hospitals providing good care had systems firmly in place to record and monitor patients’ needs. These hospitals regularly updated patient care plans, the amount of food they ate and their weight, and also completed nutritional risk assessments on a regular basis.

There were some common failings across hospitals that were not sufficiently meeting people’s needs.

We found that many of these issues arose in services that put the completion of tasks before the needs of patients.

In some cases, patients did not always have a suitable choice of food that met their individual needs. Many of them were not given the opportunity to wash their hands before or after eating either.

Some patients told our inspectors that they waited a long time before staff answered call bells.

We witnessed staff who:

• were not involving patients in care planning or recording their preferences and dislikes.
• were not giving patients the help they needed to eat and drink, or weren't accurately recording what they eat and drink.
• were discussing confidential information about patients in public areas.
• were talking over patients.

In addition, some staff did not have full knowledge of training in areas like safeguarding, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 or the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

From what we've seen during our inspections and the things that people have told us, hospitals must now:

• implement the best systems to ensure people’s nutritional needs are identified and met and reviewed on a regular basis.
• make sure that all staff understand safeguarding and their responsibilities in protecting patients from the risk of abuse - this includes having an understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
• improve the standard of record keeping, with staff maintaining accurate, appropriate information to support patient care.

Our inspectors found many examples of good care being provided by care homes. The following promote a culture of putting patients' needs first.

• Staff clearly understood the preferences and needs of their residents.
• Care home providers made sure the ways staff talked to and cared for people were respectful and appropriate.
• Staff saw residents as individuals and supported them to live as independently as possible.
• Care home providers made sure that interactions between staff and residents were just as important as providing practical care needs.

Homes that recorded people’s choices and decisions about their care were more likely to be involving people (91 per cent) than those that had not (41 per cent).

Additionally, homes that had recorded people’s individual food and drink preferences were more likely to be giving people a choice of food and drink (88 per cent) than those that had not (41 per cent).

We also found that homes meeting the standards were adopting the right systems. They kept accurate records of each resident’s care, were identifying people at risk of malnutrition and had the right processes in place to protect people from the risk of abuse.

There were some common failings among services that were not meeting the needs of people in its care.

We found that people living in one in six of the care homes (80 homes) that we had inspected did not always have their privacy and dignity respected or were not involved in their own care.

Some members of staff and managers in homes:

• talked to people using inappropriate words or manners.
• did not use doors and screens when providing personal care
• did not give people somewhere to keep their possessions secure.
• did not find out how people preferred to be cared for or spend their time.
• failed to provide choices of activities and options for people to support their independence – particularly for people with dementia.

One in six care homes (87 homes) were not always supporting people to eat and drink sufficient amounts. Some staff failed to identify or provide the support to people who were at risk of malnutrition.

Homes caring for people with dementia, including those with a dedicated dementia unit, were less likely to be respecting people’s dignity and protecting them from abuse. This may be because some of the staff did not have the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience in the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

In order to raise standards, care homes need to make sure that:

• older people are treated with dignity and that they are shown respect at all times.
• individual needs and preferences are identified and documented on admission and regularly reviewed, with input from the individual and their relatives.
• staffing levels and knowledge must reflect and meet people’s needs.
• staff caring for people with dementia have the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience through appropriate training and access to other sources of information and support, particularly in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.