Hospital care for elderly dubbed ‘alarming’

Elderly patients under the care of the NHS are not being treated with dignity by staff, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has said.

According to the CQC, nurses and doctors are not doing enough to ensure that older, hospitalised patients are eating and drinking properly and in some cases treat their patients in a condescending manner.

In a new report from the healthcare watchdog, experts claim that half of English hospitals fail to meet key standards for dignity and nutrition for elderly patients.

The report's authors claimed that the findings were "truly alarming and deeply disappointing".

It goes on to say that many institutions are simply providing unacceptable levels of care.

Commenting on the report, Age UK's charity director Michelle Mitchell said: "Nearly one in five hospitals completely fail to ensure that patients are eating and treated with dignity."

She added that there are "no excuses" for the "shocking complacency" uncovered by the CQC.

Figures released from NHS trusts up and down the country show that one in 12 hospital meals is returned uneaten – at a cost of 22 million pounds to the taxpayer. At some trusts the figure is far higher than the eight per cent national average.