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BDA: Care homes need to act on worrying malnutrition trendDate: 06/07/2007 08:56:35
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Many care homes in the UK are failing to provide elderly residents with the sustenance they require in old age, the British Dietetic Association (BDA) has claimed.
According to the BDA there are currently larges discrepancies in the levels of care provided in care homes - putting over four in ten residents at risk of malnutrition.
Although the BDA admitted many residential care homes were doing a "phenomenal job" in caring for the elderly with balanced menus, she revealed that many homes are failing to provide nutritionally balanced meals and as such are putting lives at risk.
Alison Smith, nutritionist for the BDA explained that although the Commission for Social Care Inspection provides standards and guidelines for meals in care homes, they are complicated and are often misinterpreted by its inspectors.
She called the government to take steps to improve the situation: "There really does need to be [change]. But ultimately it's the Department of Health which can do this.
"It's really whether they are prepared to make some changes - ultimately for the training of inspectors, but also to try to highlight the issues of malnutrition, that's what it boils down to.
"There's data that suggests that between 44 and 100 per cent of patients who are resident in care homes are at risk of malnutrition," she added.
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