§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many elderly people were diagnosed as suffering from malnutrition in(a) Portsmouth and South East Hampshire and (b) in England, in each of the last five years; and what his Department's policy is for tackling malnutrition. [152349]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonMalnourishment is caused by an imbalance of nutrients, particularly energy intake which impacts on body weight. Eating a balanced diet and keeping physically active helps people to maintain a healthy body weight.
Table 1 shows the count of finished admission episodes for national health service hospitals in Portsmouth and South East Hampshire (1998–99 to 2000–01) and Isle of White, Portsmouth and South East Hampshire where the primary diagnosis is malnutrition and the age of admission was 65 plus.
Table 1 Finished admission episodes 1998–99 0 1999–2000 1 2000–01 1 2001–02 1 2002–03 3 Table 2 shows the count of finished admission episodes for NHS hospitals in England from 1998–99 to 2002–03 where the primary diagnosis is malnutrition and the age of admission was 65 plus. 1127W
Table 2 Finished admission episodes 1998–99 114 1999–2000 98 2000–01 109 2001–02 128 2002–03 112 Source
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.
In the NHS Plan (2000) the Government made a commitment to reduce under nutrition by developing a hospital nutrition policy to improve the outcome of care of patients by 2004. A number of measures and strategies are in place to manage, monitor and screen patients for under nutrition in hospitals, residential care and the wider community. Nutritional screening is recommended for the care of specific groups, such as those outlined in the national service framework for older people (2001).