Petition Eliminate avoidable malnutrition in England

Malnutrition/dehydration are both a cause and consequence of illness costing the NHS £billions annually. Nevertheless, standards of relevant care in hospital and social settings are frequently poor. The government should therefore take priority action to identify and treat malnutrition and dehydration wherever possible, action which must go beyond Andrew Lansley’s public commitment to deliver better nutritional care in hospitals. We are calling for:

• A Government Minister to take personal responsibility for this area
• The DH to appoint a National Clinical Director for Nutrition and Hydration to lead quality improvement and develop a national malnutrition strategy
• Public Health England to focus on malnutrition in an early awareness campaign
• The DH to make training in nutritional care a key objective for the new Health Education England Board
• The National Commissioning Board to develop clear outcome measures to monitor prevalence of these problems and quality of care