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Health, Support & Social Care

Care Home Nutrition Guidelines

Food and drink regulations in care homes play a vital role in keeping residents healthy and happy. Dehydration and malnutrition can severely worsen a range of conditions, including ulcers, bedsores, dementia and stroke risk. So adequate nutrition and hydration in health and social care are fundamental components to maintaining the health, well-being and quality of life of elderly people.

Care providers who expose people to the risk of avoidable harm by breaching regulations in this area can face hefty fines from the UK’s care inspectorates and even criminal prosecution. So, what can you do to ensure good hydration and nutrition for the people you provide care to?

At The Access Group, we have been digitising care services across the world for over 30 years. We have worked closely with people in the care sector and understand the struggles they may face with regulating food and drink in care homes.  So, using our years of experience, we have put together this article that dives into the importance of nutrition and hydration, how to improve it and regulations surrounding food and fluid intake. After reading it you should have a much better idea of how to maintain nutrition and hydration in care homes and the guidelines in this area.

Residential Care Homecare Social Care

Posted 23/08/2023

Hydration in Health and Social Care

Nutrition and Hydration in Health and Social Care – Why is it Important?

Around 1 in 3 people who live in care homes or are admitted to hospital are malnourished or at risk of becoming so. Poor nutrition and hydration don’t only harm the health and well-being of those in care, but they can also reduce their ability to remain healthy or recover from health conditions. As a result, care homes will see an increase in admissions and will need to allow more time for medication management.

Food and Drink Regulations in Care Homes

Food and drink regulations in care homes have been designed to ensure that residents receive the correct nutrition and hydration to support their health alongside their physical and mental well-being. These regulations create a framework that care home staff can follow, which helps them meet the dietary needs of people in their care, which will prevent malnutrition and dehydration as a result. Adhering to these regulations will help care homes create a supportive environment that promotes overall health and quality of life.

A food and drink regulation that you must be aware of is the ‘Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: 14. This regulation intends to make sure that service users in health and social care have sufficient nutrition and hydration to sustain life and good health. This regulation states that people must have their nutritional needs assessed and food must be provided to meet them. This includes the prescription of nutritional supplements and people’s preferences e.g. cultural and religious backgrounds must be taken into consideration when providing food and drink.

In Scotland, nutrition and hydration, or ‘eating and drinking’ are covered within the Health and Social Care Standards (Scotland) under the ‘Wellbeing’ section. Specifically, Standards 1.33 through to 1.39:

  • 33. I can choose suitably presented and healthy meals and snacks, including fresh fruit and vegetables, and participate in menu planning.
  • 34. If I need help with eating and drinking, this is carried out in a dignified way and personal preferences are respected.
  • 35. I can enjoy unhurried snack and meal times in as relaxed an atmosphere as possible.
  • 36. If I wish, I can share snacks and meals alongside other people using and working in the service if appropriate.
  • 37. My meals and snacks meet my cultural and dietary needs, beliefs and preferences.
  • 38. If appropriate, I can choose to make my own meals, snacks and drinks, with support if I need it, and can choose to grow, cook and eat my own food where possible.
  • 39. I can drink fresh water at all times.

In Wales, hydration and nutrition in care must adhere to regulations below in The Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017:

  • Regulation 15: Emphasises the importance of people’s care plans corresponding to their dietary needs and preferences (including cultural or religious preferences)
  • Regulation 21: Gives overarching guidance and requirements on how people in care homes can be supported in maintaining a good diet and fluid intake
  • Regulation 55: Covers issues of suppliers and maintaining sufficient food and drink stocks
  • Regulation 56: Stresses the importance of high standards of food hygiene in preperation, storage and serving of food and drinks

hydration and nutrition in care

How to Improve Care Home Nutrition

If you’re struggling to adhere to food and drink regulations in your care home or you just want to perfect the system you already have in place, here are some tips on how to improve care home nutrition:

  • Personalised meal plans – These consist of tailoring meal plans to meet the needs of every resident’s dietary requirements and preferences. This will also include medical conditions and allergies. Collaborating with a nutritionist and/or dietician can help you create nutritious and balanced meal plans that cater to each individual’s needs.
  • Regular nutritional assessments – Carrying out regular assessments on an individual's nutritional status can help you to identify any changes in dietary requirements or deficiencies that may need addressing. Adjusting a person’s meal plan based on their nutritional assessment will ensure they receive the right nutrients from their food and drink.
  • Install hydration stations – Installing hydration stations throughout your care home will encourage your service users to drink water regularly. To make them more appealing and boost health benefits, you can equip your stations with infused water, herbal teas and fresh fruits.
  • Education and training – Providing your care staff with ongoing training surrounding the importance of nutrition and hydration alongside how to identify signs of malnutrition and dehydration is essential. When your employees are well-informed, they will be able to improve the well-being of residents while putting their health first. We have more information on the different types of training for your care service.

Nutrition Champions in Care Homes

An effective way to improve care home nutrition is to assign nutrition champions throughout your care service. This has been proven to improve the quality of life of your service users.

A nutrition champion is someone who has enhanced knowledge and expertise in care home nutrition and hydration through training and experience. They will promote good nutrition and hydration throughout the care home and will continue their professional development throughout their carer. The nutrition champion can also help educate colleagues on the importance of good nutrition and ensure that nutrition and hydration are prioritised within the care service.

The position of a nutrition champion can be appointed to any member of staff in your care service who has the knowledge or experience of this subject to support their colleagues. Ideally you should always have more than one champion, not only does this lead to better coverage it also means that should one nutrition champion leave your service (given the high staff turnover rates in social care) then the knowledge is not lost and ensures continuity of their championing of nutrition and hydration.

Hydration Toolkit for Care Homes

Hydration toolkits can serve as a comprehensive resource for your care home staff. These toolkits are often created as part of a resource to assist care home managers, caterers and other service providers. They can be used to effectively monitor and enhance the hydration of residents. These toolkits may include guidelines, protocols and educational materials that can be used to prioritise hydration. Some examples of what may be included in a care home hydration toolkit include:

  • Fluid charts – Fluid intake charts can be used to track people’s daily consumption of liquids. Care staff can use these to monitor hydration levels, identify trends and make any necessary adjustments to fluid intake.
  • Hydration assessment tools – You can use these tools to evaluate an individual’s hydration status, which allows care providers to promptly intervene if dehydration is detected. Hydration assessment tools may include indicators for urine colour, skin elasticity and oral moisture.
  • Learning materials – It’s common for hydration toolkits to contain educational materials that are used to explain the importance of hydration, the common signs of dehydration and strategies your care team can use to encourage their service users to drink more liquids.

Food and Fluid Charts in Care Homes

Food and fluid charts in care homes are indispensable tools that can be used to document the dietary intake of residents. They offer a visual representation of consumed food and fluid, which helps care providers assess nutritional habits and address any deficiencies. Food and fluid charts can consist of meal records and fluid intake logs. Both give a clear overview of people’s daily consumption of food and liquid, patterns in their food and drink intake, portion sizes and dietary requirements.

Food and fluid charts in care homes

Nutrition and Hydration Policy in Care Homes

As you can see, food and drink regulations in care homes are essential to ensuring the health and well-being of people in your care. By following these guidelines and implementing the relevant practical strategies, your care home can improve its standards of hydration and nutrition, boosting the health of service users as a result.

Every care service should have its own bespoke nutrition and hydration policy. This can be used to enforce the crucial rules surrounding food and drink intake and the procedures lay out the right actions to take if employees aren’t offering the right nutrition and hydration to service users. Here at Access, we have a policies and procedures digital platform that can help you stay on top of and effectively manage all of your health and social care policies, procedures, documents and forms in one place. 

Our platform has been built by experts in Health & Social Care, including former regulators, clinicians and providers. Our health and social care policies and procedures are easy to use and quick to implement. They have also been written in plain English, so are easy to understand and are approved for use with the CQC, Care Inspectorate Wales and Care Inspectorate Scotland. Please contact us today to learn more about our software or get started by booking a demo.