Aged care residents malnourished, staff panicked, Hobart dietitian tells royal commission

A dietitian was appalled to find more than half of residents at a Hobart residential aged care facility were malnourished or at risk of malnourishment when she was called in as a consultant late last year. Key points: A dietitian says the malnourishment rates at an aged care facility she visited were "appalling" Nutrition Australia estimates up to 60 per cent of residents in some aged care facilities are likely malnourished A royal commission into aged care will hold hearings in Hobart between November 11 and 15 The facility — Bupa South Hobart — went on to fail Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission accreditation standards in April, including on a measure related to nutrition and hydration. Auditors from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission wrote in their March report on the facility that management at Bupa South Hobart had failed to demonstrate that residents were receiving "adequate nutrition and hydration". "We have a number of residents living with complex conditions, requiring complex care requirements and therefore having different nutritional requirements, and with regular nutrition education and feedback, our staff are confidently able to implement the recommendations from the Vivir Healthcare dietitian," the Bupa spokesman said. "What frustrates me is there are people in aged care right now who do not have a year, they don't have three months, they don't have six months to wait," she said.