Patients First - helping patients get better

Patient outcomes and experience could be improved by ensuring that nutrition is integral to the management of care for all patient groups as it is fundamental to good health and recovery.

Patients First Report 2017

It is unequivocal that patient food is an essential element of care. The benefits of improving nutritional care and providing adequate hydration are immense, particularly for those with long term conditions and problems such as stroke, pressure ulcers or falls.

Despite the importance of patient nutrition, no one has explicitly sought the views and opinions of the patients and there was little empirical evidence on the factors that influence patients’ willingness to eat or not to eat their meals whilst in hospital.

This study, conducted by The Patients Association and funded through an educational grant provided by Compass Group, sought to redress this gap in our knowledge. It comprised of qualitative and quantitative techniques to examine patient preferences for food and whilst in hospital. It is the first, large scale independent study of patient attitudes and preferences to hospital food and drink. This major survey asked patients what their priorities and experience were with regard to hospital food, the results of this are published in the report, Patients First.

Improving Patient Outcomes: The Impact of Nutrition on Healthcare

“Drawing on the views of patients we set out our recommendations which we hope will inform improvements in the quality of nutrition and hydration in hospitals and other care settings.”
Patients First Report 2017

To conduct this large-scale study, the Patients Association, an independent national healthcare charity, received an educational grant from Compass. To provide a good qualitative understanding and robust numbers, it involved 780 patients and relatives at six hospitals.
One of its main findings was that patients’ top priorities for their meal experience were:
1. Tastes good
2. Right amount of choice
3. Food at the right temperature.

Some key findings from this 2017 report included:

• Staff service received a score of 8.5 out of 10
• Patients rated staff service highly with 34% giving staff 100% and an average score of 8.5
• Patients rated hospital meals an average of 7.4 out of 10
• 75% of patients would recommend the service to someone if they were an in-patient in hospital.

The importance of offering healthy nutritious food in hospitals is quantified by the observation that an estimated 30% of patients admitted to acute hospitals are at risk of malnutrition.