57% of patients rate hospital food as “very good”

The Care Quality Commission (CQC), the new health and social care regulator, carried out a survey by 165 acute and specialist NHS trusts in England. Participating were over 72,000 people who stayed at least one night in a hospital during summer 2008. The survey is co-ordinated by the Picker Institute. Further research found that in 2008, a further 30% rated the food as "fair, however 14% said it was "poor". Meanwhile of those patients who said they needed it (30%), 18% said they did not get enough help from staff to eat their meals. This is an improvement since 2007 when 20% said they did not get enough help, but no change from 2002 (18%). Cynthia Bower, CQC chief executive, said: "Patients are clearly highlighting some persistent problems, in particular in some of the basics of care such as help with eating and involvement in decisions. "It is a great shame that the NHS has not managed to get a stronger grip on these issues when patients have been highlighting them for so long. As the regulator, we will be doing more to ensure people's views have more clout."