News

Patients die in hospitals due to thirst and malnutrition. 24.01.2012

Last year four people died every day suffering from malnutrition or dehydration.

Doctors were forced to prescribe “drinking water” to ensure that sick people had enough fluids.

Patients are often malnourished when they come into hospitals due to ill health. If efforts are not made to correct this problem, then recovery from illness is delayed and it increases the chances that the patient will die in hospital.

The questions that should be asked and answered urgently are:

• What can be done to help patients who are malnourished whilst they are in hospital?
  
  
• Should more emphasis be put on monitoring the patients’ diets?
  
  
• Are the meals nutritious, attractive and tasty enough to the patients?

There are a number of issues that need addressing in the present economic climate, where severe cutbacks and major reorganizational changes are being put before the welfare of vulnerable patients, and basic human need is not given the attention it deserves.

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Source: Daily Mail Online