Medway hospital brings dignity to mealtimes

Thursday 25th February is Dignity Action Day and Medway is using the day to "ensure patients are treated as individuals, are given choice, control and a sense of purpose in their daily lives". Tarina Phillips, dignity champion at Medway Maritime Hospital said: "When patients eat properly, they're likely to recover more quickly which means faster discharge from hospital and most often, back to the comfort of their own homes. I believe that improving the dining experience for patients and offering them options in terms of where they would like to eat can really help consumption and enjoyment of meals." The hospital will be encouraging inpatients across the hospital to share their mealtime in the company of others in especially allocated communal areas on wards. Glyn Scott, Nutrition Nurse Specialist at Medway NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are continuously looking at ways to offer choice and flexibility at mealtimes, and to make these times more enjoyable for our patients. On one of our elderly care wards, patients are always given the option of either dining in a social setting or eating at their bedside. "Another example is children. It can be difficult to get some of our younger patients interested in their meals so we are also looking at ways in which we can offer communal dining on our children's wards. This will help encourage children to eat their meals by surrounding them with others that are doing the same. "There is still lots of work to do but Dignity Action Day is a great way to get our staff thinking about what they can do to further meet the needs of our patients."