Reports ‘Show We Are Dealing With This Problem’

HEALTH bosses yesterday denied that the NHS was struggling to cope with vulnerable patients.

A spokeswoman for the North East Strategic Health Authority said: "The NHS in the North East takes patient nutrition very seriously.

"A number of initiatives are already under way to raise standards across the region. These include stepping up the focus on all elements of Essence of Care – a system to share and compare good practice – including food and nutrition, across the region to ensure that all hospitals achieve better standards.

"In addition, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is a pilot site for the Royal College of Nursing’s Nutrition Now campaign to raise standards of nutrition and hydration in hospitals and the community.

"The better care, safer care strategy to improve patient safety, including aspects relating to nutrition, has also recently been launched."

Dr Kevin Cleary, medical director of the National Patient Safety Agency, said the increase was in line with a rise in the total number of patient safety incidents reported to the Agency.

"A growth in incident reporting reflects more NHS trusts connecting to the system and a greater willingness by NHS clinical staff to report incidents."

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