Lively debates have been sparked over recent prosposed changes to the NHS’s approach to dealing with malnutrition. It has been well documented that ‘93% of of the 1million older people affected by malnutrition are in the community’. With hospitals now reporting that a third of older patients are malnourished upon admission, it has suggested that the cost to the public sector is in the region of several billion pounds. Could this be somewhat avoidable if there was a more effective structure in place? Extra GP visits to treat illnesses specific to malnutrition for example, and annual assessments of the body mass index and weight of all over-65s to pinpoint the risk of malnourishment as early as possible? One point that was raised, was to hire more specialist nutrition nurses and place them into community-based care to fight the root cause of the problem.

At Milkwood we have a structured plan in place to deal with malnutrition. Each resident coming into one of our homes is assessed under the ‘malnutrition universal screening tool’ to understand each individual and their needs so that we can care for them in the appropriate way. Depending on the results, plans are made to address any present nutritional issues, by way of appropriate food supplements and increased calorific needs. Residents that are at high risk are also referred to a dietician. We have found that our head on approach to dealing with malnutrition is effective and together with our onsite catering teams who create constantly varied and nutritious menus, we ensure that our residents are in the best health.