The information requested is shown in the following table for years where the information is available. It is not possible to provide information about the number of people discharged from hospital who were malnourished because it would be misleading to present the admissions/discharges per 100,000 of the English population when a proportion of these will represent people not resident in England.
Age groups Finished in-year admission episodes In-year discharge episodes 2000-01 0-4 35 35 5-14 17 17 15-24 42 44 25-34 93 95 35-44 135 151 45-54 143 158 55-64 140 161 65-74 194 213 75-84 237 285 85-120 187 221 Age not known 1 1 Total 1,224 1,381 2001-02 0-4 24 26 5-14 45 46 15-24 61 62 25-34 96 98 35-44 116 124 45-54 158 168 55-64 136 170 65-74 201 220 75-84 294 352 85-120 216 235 Age not known 15 16 Total 1,362 1,517 2002-03 0-4 36 36 5-14 44 45 15-24 72 75 25-34 108 115 35-44 141 158 45-54 201 211 55-64 205 237 65-74 205 241 75-84 281 340 85-120 231 256 Age not known 4 5 Total 1,528 1,719 2003-04 0-4 38 38 5-14 33 33 15-24 66 69 25-34 135 141 35-44 149 168 45-54 185 215 55-64 185 192 65-74 226 258 75-84 331 394 85-120 247 302 Age not known 7 8 Total 1,602 1,818 2004-05 0-4 38 41 5-14 32 31 15-24 89 92 25-34 105 120 35-44 188 202 45-54 214 229 55-64 245 267 65-74 246 280 75-84 345 408 85-120 287 334 Age not known 2 2 Total 1,791 2,006 2005-06 0-4 38 39 5-14 39 39 15-24 106 118 25-34 122 133 35-44 224 251 45-54 240 267 55-64 312 341 65-74 286 342 75-84 342 423 85-120 232 308 Age not known 3 4 Total 1,944 2,265 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics.
(2) what assessment he has made of levels of adherence by (a) NHS organisations and (b) general practice surgeries to section 1.14.2.2 of the guidance issued on 22 February 2006 by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on nutritional support in adults, to screen for malnutrition (i) all hospital inpatients on admission, (ii) all outpatients on first attendance and (iii) all people on initial registration at general practice surgeries;
(3) what steps he is taking to encourage the use of malnutrition screening tools in healthcare settings.
The Department does not monitor the use of malnutrition screening tools centrally.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence clinical guidelines are classified as developmental standards in the national health service quality standards framework “Standards for Better Health”. NHS organisations are expected to take full account of them in developing services, but the pace of implementation will vary according to local circumstances and priorities.
Core Standard C15b of the “Standards for Better Healthcare”, assessed by the Healthcare Commission, includes a requirement that, among other things,
“The healthcare organisation should ensure that the nutritional status of patients is assessed at appropriate points in their care, for example, upon admission to hospital.”
The National Patient Safety Agency, who have responsibility for supporting the implementation of policy on hospital food and nutrition, are actively promoting the comprehensive screening of patients on admission to hospital.
According to the Hospital Episode Statistics, the count of bed days during 2005-06 for finished episodes where the primary diagnosis was malnutrition in national health service hospitals in England was 6,083.